May 7, 2024
In middle school there was a very sophisticated way to
determine if someone wanted to be boyfriend/girlfriend: We sent a
note. Not just any old note mind you. The note was usually
discreetly carried by an entrusted friend who would deliver the
precious cargo while avoiding the scanning eyes of the teacher.
The note simply read: Do you like me? Below were
a series of boxes. One box indicated YES. Another box
was NO. A third box was, MAYBE. Your
job was to mark the appropriate box, get the message back to the
trusted carrier, and depending on the box you marked, either
make someone's day or break their heart.
Millions of pre-teen relationships were formed in this somewhat
risky, yet safer way of asking the universal question: Do
you want a relationship with me?
God's design for all of creation was for it to live in perfect
community. We were made for relationship with God and with every
other human. However, because of the rebellion against God's
design, humans now live in this broken world where they were made
for relationship, yet so uncertain if God or other people will even
accept them.
Therapist, Edie Weinstein puts it this way:
“I have sat with clients of all ages who have expressed feeling
like an outsider who doesn’t quite fit in, a square peg in a round
hole, so different from others that they may have come from another
planet. Some are adults, some children and teens and what they have
in common is a longing to belong.”
We all have a longing to belong and the good news of the Bible is
that God wants you to belong in his human family! In part four of
The Big Picture we will discover how we can know that God
"marked the YES box" and the impact that invitation can
have on our lives and our relationships with others. To learn more,
give a listen to part four of The Big Picture!