Find Your Place

Monday night, we had the privilege of attending the New Day Women’s Center event at Bryant Conference Center, and I left with a full heart.

I was able to see several people I, of course, go to church with, but I also saw people I’ve known since I was much younger. People I’ve reconnected with through the years because we happened to serve together, support the same ministry, or simply care deeply about the same things.

And as I drove home, I kept thinking about how special that is.

I sometimes wish we could all go to church together.

Wouldn’t it be fun to worship alongside every person I’ve met through the years? To hear all the different preachers, worship with all the different congregations, and be part of every ministry that has touched my heart?

But I also know that God didn’t design us that way.

He uniquely created each of us. He gave us different gifts, different personalities, different strengths, different passions, and different places where He can use those things. If we were all in the same place, doing things the same way, with the same gifts and abilities, we wouldn’t be nearly as effective.

God calls us to different places.

And He doesn’t call us to be a carbon copy of someone else.

That really stood out to me Monday night.

The woman whom I’ve known for a long time. She is very close to someone in my family, and she had visited our church before. I hadn’t seen her in a while, so it was really special to catch up and hear about how she was doing and where God had placed her.

She told me about the church she is attending now, and I told her, honestly, what a wonderful church it is. I even said, “I wish I could go hear all the different preachers all the time!”

And thankfully, we live in a time when we can.

Technology gives us the opportunity to worship and learn from churches and pastors far beyond our own congregation. My cousin is a pastor at Soma, and I love going back and watching their worship services and listening to him preach. I don’t do it every week, but when I have the time, I love seeing what God is doing through their church and the way they are shining His light in their community.

Another church that holds a special place in my heart is Valley View. We called that church home for a really long time, and their worship is still some of my favorite. I love being able to tune in and, in a small way, worship alongside them.

And then there is my own church.

None of these churches are exactly the same.

They don’t look the same. They don’t worship exactly the same way. Their programs may have some similarities, and they may use some of the same terminology, but each one has its own personality, its own people, its own gifts, and its own way of reaching the community God has placed it in.

And I love that.

I love that God doesn’t ask us all to be the same.

We aren’t supposed to be a carbon copy of someone else. We aren’t supposed to constantly compare our church, our ministry, our gifts, or our calling to someone else’s.

We are supposed to be faithful where God has placed us.

And I am so thankful for where He has me.

I’m thankful for the children He has given me the opportunity to love and serve. I get to open God’s Word with my second graders on Sunday mornings, in Kids Praise with K-4th and I get to love on two-year-olds and plant seeds in lives on Wednesday nights. Those three groups could not be more different, but all are a blessing.

And I think that’s what I would encourage you to do.

Find your place.

Find the place where you can grow.

Find the place where you can serve.

Find the place where you can worship.

Find the place where you can use the gifts God has given you to love people and point them toward Jesus.

And then be faithful there.

Because God will use it.

He will use that place to strengthen you. He will grow you through the people you serve alongside. He will teach you things you didn’t know you needed to learn. And He will take all of those unique qualities He put inside of you and give you opportunities to use them.

But here’s the really neat part.

Finding your place doesn’t mean God closes the door to everything else.

He doesn’t waste a moment.

The people you meet outside of your own church still matter.

The ministries you support still matter.

The relationships you build while serving alongside people from other churches still matter.

God can give you people who share the same heart for a ministry even though you don’t attend the same church. He can give you friendships that cross congregational lines. He can allow you to encourage someone who worships somewhere completely different from you.

And I think that is such a beautiful picture of the body of Christ.

Monday night, I realized God was meeting needs in my heart that I didn’t even realize were there.

I got to see like-minded believers I don’t get to see very often. I got hugs from people who have walked alongside me in different seasons. I got to have those short conversations that may not seem significant to anyone else but meant something to me.

Maybe part of that is because I’m still processing the loss of Paula, someone I served so closely with for years.

Maybe my heart still aches a little more than I realize.

And maybe those hugs were exactly what I needed.

They reminded me to keep going.

To keep serving.

To keep loving people.

To keep showing up.

They reminded me of the value of good partnership and good community.

And that community doesn’t always look like sitting in the same church building every Sunday.

Sometimes it looks like serving together.

Sometimes it looks like supporting the same ministry.

Sometimes it looks like a conversation across a table.

Sometimes it looks like a hug from someone you haven’t seen in a while.

And sometimes, without even realizing it, God uses those moments to meet a need in your heart that you didn’t know you had.

So, if you’re searching for where you fit, I would encourage you to find your place.

Find the place where God is calling you to grow and serve.

Don’t spend your time trying to be someone else or trying to make your place look like someone else’s.

God uniquely created you.

He has given you gifts for a reason.

And there is a place where He can use them.

Go find your place.

And then be faithful there.

Because He has one for you.

And He doesn’t waste a moment.