One day at the park there was an event at the amphitheater. A small crowd gathered out on the grassy slope and a line of busy food trucks hugged the perimeter. I could hear the music as I approached the scene. No where to run to baby, nowhere to hide…I was curious but hesitant to walk by and have a look. To my mind, this was something organized for other people, not me. I decided to slip away into the woods down a solitary path.
God spoke to me in my spirit. He told me that I belong. Simply, I belong. Because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for me I have an all-inclusive passport to life. I may not be invited to every event and there are places my Lord doesn’t want me to go but in the great scheme of Creation, as a child of God, I belong.
I tried to imagine all my life could be if I held fast to this truth. I believe I allow my feelings to interfere with this. Feelings of inferiority, control, shame, apathy—any of these and more! The bottom line is that when I am walking in who God made me to be, lifting Him to the place where He should be in my life, my feelings can take a back seat and I can embody my sacred place as a child of the Most High God. Which means I am called to stand in the midst of a public park and this beautiful life God gave me with overflowing love, peace, joy and the assurance that I belong.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9
Meeting God at the Park 