Finding Your People

Recently we were watching a teaching from Bethel Church and the pastor spoke about what we need to fulfill our destiny............our God given purpose for our time here on earth.  One key component In fulfilling our destiny is to "find your people".  The pastor went on to say that we are not in this alone.  We are created for relationships.   A relationship with the Trinity and relationships with people.  We need each other.  We depend on each other and God.  We need support and encouragement from others and their willingness to hold us accountable.  It's really a Biblical principle.

I thought a great deal about this "finding our people" concept.  I reflected on the lives of our children, our family, our friends, and community.  Where we live and breath.  With "our people". Our community has always been defined by the church due to Joel being a pastor.  We lived mostly in a fish bowl~ parsonages  ~and we walked into a church with the people knowing a great deal about us.  Finding friends was not always easy, but fellowship was.  We did not really need to find our people, God said go and we went.  The people were there to welcome us when we arrived.  Our kids had the added component of new schools and seeking friends among their peers..  It was always difficult to change schools.  They did so bravely, and we are grateful and humbled by that.

At this time in our lives, we are seeking a new purpose in a new land.  We are going where God leads but not sure why He is leading us there!  There will be no built in church community or a parsonage to live in.  No one will know us as pastor and pastor's wife.  That is both exciting and scary.  We are heading into the desert and will need to mostly start over "finding our people".  We will need to seek out a church family that can hold us accountable, encourage us, and support us as we move forward in God's purpose for this season of our lives.  One thing in this adventure remains the same.  God has said go and we are going.  He will have people, our people, our community in place.  We need only trust Him as we walk in obedience. 

Finding our people.  It is a great concept.  Some find their people at the hockey arena.  Some find them at the local bar.  Some find them on the Internet.  (I am blessed this way, too) Some find them in their home towns where roots run deep.  Some find them in church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.  Some find them in a variety of arenas.  Where do you "find your people"?  Hopefully. wherever you find them it is God doing the leading and it is centered on His purpose for your life.  In God's family.   It seems like a good place to take refuge.  In the midst of those who seek what we all seek.....a sense of belonging, and a  close relationship with God and His purpose for our lives.