Belonging: Made for Connection

I talk about my dogs a lot in my blogs because now that my boys are grown and off “adulting,” I have naturally taken a back seat in their lives. I’m not intimately involved in their day-to-day lives like I used to be when they were growing up which leaves me with a relationship gap–a hole that used to be filled with caring for my children. I have found that caring for my dogs and spending time with them each day helps to fill that emptiness just a little bit.

I have three dogs, so when you add me to the group we form a pack according to the dog world. As part of their pack, we are very connected which in dog lingo means we must do everything together! Dogs have a very distinct “pecking order” in a pack, and I have wisely established myself as the alpha dog (or the leader), so they want to follow my lead to the letter whether I’m asking for their obedience or not. If I go downstairs, we all go downstairs. If I go back upstairs, literally five seconds later we all must go back upstairs. If “Mom” is in the bedroom, we all must be in the bedroom, and if I happen to shut the door they lie patiently right outside until I open it. My husband jokes that he never has to wonder where I am because if he can see the dogs, he knows I am not far away! 

They want to be with me all the time, and they make every effort to ensure they stay within immediate proximity of me. They always pay very close attention to where I am and what I’m doing. I’m part of their pack. It’s a close relationship in which each member is connected–we belong to each other, in a sense, and are very attuned to each other. We all find peace and comfort in the pack.

So this morning, as I was reviewing some of my memory verses (with my pack arrayed on the floor around me in the kitchen, of course!), God highlighted one of my first memory verses. It was John 8:47 which says, “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (NIV) 

I have always found great comfort in the first part of this verse. I belong to Him, so I can hear Him. Wow, I love that! I am His child and He wants to speak to me…that makes me feel very special and very loved. But I will admit, the second half of this verse seemed a little harsh to me. “The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” Wait a minute! Does that mean if I don’t hear Him, I don’t belong to Him?!? If I am a child of God, how can I not belong to Him?!? I don’t love that idea at all! You can see where it would be easy to fall into a legalistic thought process here, believing that if I’m not hearing God it means I have been disobedient in some way, so now I don’t belong to Him anymore. Oops, I messed up and now I’m “out!” 

Because of my doubts, the Lord prompted me to spend some time with this verse, so I looked it up in the Blue Letter Bible app (if you haven’t already discovered this app, I recommend it. It’s very handy for deep dives in scripture). My Bible is the NIV version which uses the phrase “belongs to God” but other versions say, “He who is of God” instead. The Hebrew word for “of” is “ek” which is a preposition (bringing back memories of grammar lessons anyone?!?) that, when used before a vowel indicates something with which there has been close connection. So, we can infer from this verse that he who is of God is closely connected to Him. The Lord desires not only that we know about Him but that we are closely connected to Him, in relationship with Him, and interacting with Him. 

As He revealed all of this to me, John 8:47 started to make more sense! When I reflected on the doubt I used to feel when reading this verse, I realized that when I don’t hear from God it’s not because I’m not His child; it’s because I have temporarily lost my connection with Him. Now I see this verse as a call to something better in my life with God!

Close connection with the Lord…it sounds great, right?! Why would we ever want to settle for anything less? Maybe because we don’t even realize we are settling. Maybe we’re unaware that we have lost our connection. Maybe we have settled for figuring it out on our own instead of seeking His input in our everyday lives. Maybe there is part of our lives that we haven’t surrendered to Him. Maybe we are so busy trying to get through life we don’t even realize we aren’t living it to the full potential of what God has for us.

The reality of life here on earth is that we can know God and not be connected to Him. We can study our Bibles, meditate on and memorize scripture, and regularly attend church services and be very blessed by all of this, but what if there is more? What if it’s not just knowing who God is but rather it’s about experiencing Him in our lives? What kind of life are we missing out on because we’re settling for less?

Paul understood the importance of this connection with God when he prayed for his fellow believers in Ephesians 3:17b-19:

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God.” (NIV, emphasis added)

Can you hear the abundance language in that verse? It’s not just knowing about His love but being filled with all the fullness of Him. Jesus came not only so we would have life but that we would have it to the full. (John 10:10, NIV) 

I can only speak for myself here, but I don’t want to settle. I want to know what it’s like to be connected to Him and really experience Him. I want to be near Him every day. I want to pay close attention to where He is and what He is doing. I want to follow Him up and down the stairs. I want to sit outside the door and wait for Him to open it. I want to be in His pack!

Thank you, Lord, that you have claimed me as yours, that you have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in Christ. I want to truly know the love of Christ and what it feels like to be filled to the measure with all the fullness of your love, Father. I don’t want to settle anymore. Help me to see when I am distracted by the world and losing my connection with you. In those moments, Lord, bring me near to you through the blood of Christ. That’s where I want to be and that’s where I want to remain…connected to you, aligned with you, abiding in you, experiencing you. I love you, Lord, and I want to be with you always. Amen.