You are an Orphan. Now, I am not physically talking about you being homeless or without a family. You have a physical family on this earth and while this physical family provides stability within your life; there will be times when your physical family will not provide clarity within your life.
An orphan is classified a someone who is seeking shelter, home or a place to belong. You have a physical home but the question that you should be asking is "Do I have a spiritual home"?
Asking this question may cause a revelation within yourself. Questioning if you need a spiritual home. From my personal experience, stability is a thing I lacked within my first year in college. I lacked the drive to accomplish the goals that I set after within my freshmen year. Also, my upbringing was not in church and I learned that my life would soon spiral out of control until I learned to accept Jesus Christ as my savior.
I am afraid to seek a relationship with God because I am afraid of the unknown. Uncertainty causes doubt because there is not structure within it. I am afraid because within this uncertainty there lies doubt and worry. I learn that I do not need to be afraid of uncertainty because with God's purpose that there is always a purpose behind every event that unfolds within our lives.
Building relationships within our personal life's cause our anxiety to fly through the roof, but the one relationship that will never leave us heartbroken is a relationship with a church. Not having a church to call your home is what classifies you as an orphan.
God envision us to come together in fellowship and lift each other up in the bad moments and praise each other in the good moments. While everyone can participate in fellowship, there are levels of fellowship.
The first level of fellowship is membership. You have to make the choice to belong. Belonging can only be achieved if you are willing to take your NEXT STEP.
The second level of fellowship is friendship. This means the choice to share. Everyone wants to focus on the good times but sometimes life is not always good moments.
The third level of fellowship is a partnership. You have to be willing to work together to shape the world and leave it in a better spot than it previously was. Working together will help benefit you in the long run because it allows you to become a part of the church.
The final level of fellowship is kinship. Christians are put on a pedestal. Christians are also defined as a person who lives a perfect life. Personally, I am far from perfect. I struggle with accepting that I am not perfect. I also have a hard time accepting friendships within the church because I feel that people do not have the best intentions. God never attended for us to isolate ourselves within our church. Christians were made to join in fellowship together and the best way to do that is joining a small group. Allowing yourself to me individuals who are in similar situations is an eye opener because it helped me realize that no Christian is perfect.
When we join a church, we will meet indviduals who are struggling with doubt and personal issues. These issues can range from alcohol abuse to suicidal thoughts, it is our jobs as Christians to step in when everyone else steps out.
I challenge everyone to join a small group or just develop a friendship and step in when everyone has stepped out.
