Have you ever been somewhere and felt you did not belong? Often I have felt like this, and maybe it is because I don’t feel comfortable somewhere or with the company I am in. Sometimes it can be places that I visit that make me feel like that.

Sometimes we can feel that we don’t belong when things are foisted upon us and we are not consulted. This can be with family, friends, at work, at school/college, in any situation or anywhere. Feeling uncomfortable with something or someone is not necessarily wrong. It’s part of what makes us human.

No doubt, as a human being, Jesus certainly experienced places where he felt he didn’t belong. Look at the time he returned to his home town but was not welcomed. Jesus left saying “A prophet is never recognised amongst his own people”. We can expect people we are familiar with to be the first to priase us or welcome us, but sometimes that is not the case. Those we would expect to be there for us are often the ones who may talk us down or be negative. That can leave us feeling disappointed and we do not wish to visit them much or them us. Then when they visit us or we visit them it can make us wish we were somewhere else.

Sadly, this can be true with churches, with flat sermons, disinterested congregations, and where the Spirit of God feels absent. This is not good for your soul and your whole being in general. Your spirit is not being fed and gong to church can be a routine and a forced obligation – even boring. Sadly, church attendance is not what it was in many places. In the 2021 census less people are identifying as Christian. But if a church is like the above then it’s no wonder the church in general is dying. This should not be the case in God’s Holy Church but it is in some.

A church of all places should be a place where you feel welcomed and comfortable and a place where you feel you belong. Rather than an austere place as you feel in some old dusty churches and cathederals. Of course, that’s not to say, there are not vibrant chruches where the Spirit of God is allowed to flow, the Bible is taught with great conviction and insight and where people engage and also help, whether it be spiritual or practical.

Have you ever been somewhere or even in your own home and felt something wasn’t right? When maybe 9 times out of 10 your feeling of being uneasy was proved correct. Some would call that a gut feeling, and others, some psychic ability. However, as a Christian, I prefer to call it discernment. These feelings are God given abilities that are natural instincts. They also serve us well in the modern world.

God tells time and again he is with us, no matter our station in life or what people or situations we fear. God tells us to come to him and speak to him. He is our Father and cares for us as a father would. If you have a mental condition like anxiety there are people or groups or even in the church you can speak to. Don’t sit there in silence – reach out to these people today.

Here is a wonderful and reassuring verse from scripture:

“I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of this world, even as I am not of this world. I pray that you should not take then out of this world, but that you should keep them from evil” (John 17;11, 14 – 15).

God bless you,

Nick x.