I think all of us were a little nervous when grand-treasure, Ethan, transitioned from elementary school to middle school.
“E” doesn’t make friends easily, but he had a great little friend that he hung with all through those elementary school years.
They played together at recess.
Ate lunch together at the same table every day.
Even the few times I got to bring E lunch, his friend joined us.
There was always at seat at the table for this little gal if Ethan was present.
Sadly, when he started at Villago Middle School, this little friend went to a different school.
Would Ethan make new friends at his new school?
Who would he hang with now?
More importantly, with whom would he eat lunch?
The first day of school came.
After school, came the typical question: How was your first day?
“Good.”
Then came the all-important one: “Who did you eat lunch with?”
The real questions under that one were: “Where did you sit? Were you all alone? Did you find a friend to sit with today?”
“Did you find a place to belong?”
“Oh,” replied Ethan casually, “I ate with the Spanish.”
My little blue-eyed, blond-haired grand-treasure didn’t necessarily fit at the “Spanish table,” but I was certainly thankful they welcomed him.
When you are in middle school, where you sit is all important.
That’s when it really matters with whom you get to sit!!!!
I remember.
We were all desperate to find a place to belong.
I fought hard to sit at a lot of different tables, not just in middle school, but all throughout my life.
I would have loved to have sat with the athletes, but couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time.
I wanted to sit at the smart table, but even though my grades were top, I knew better…I could fake smart, study hard to attain a grade, but didn’t REALLY KNOW the material. I was a sham.
I wanted to sit at the popular girls table, but was nerdy-enough that I knew I didn’t belong.
As I “matured,” there were other tables: the mom-enough table, the wife-who-could-do-it-all-table, the accomplished writer table, the higher-education-staff table, the sacrificial-have-it-all-together-missionary-table, the passionate-speaker-table….and, this list could go on for a long time.
I don’t think I’m alone.
At what tables were your hearts longing to sit?
I always knew I could do a little bit of a lot of things – I just couldn’t do those things well enough to fit with those who truly belonged…and, I felt (wow, that next word is hard to find) “reject-able.”
When we feel this way, we fight even harder.
We power up.
We work longer, strive greater, and fret more…
…and we constantly live to compare.
Oh, we know what Theodore Roosevelt said about comparison – it is the chief thief of our joy!
So, most of my life, I lived allowing the culture where I dwelt to rob me blind!
Yes, there is an “until” to follow.
UNTIL, someone invited me to sit at the King-Table as ROYALTY.
I didn’t have to fake my position.
It was given to me…
…My place prepared from the beginning of time…and, RESERVED.
…My seat saved…until the day I finally discovered salvation in Jesus.
I belonged. Fully. Wholeheartedly.
I no longer had to work hard, power up, strive, or fret.
I was seated! With the King of Kings! In the heavenly places!
Comparison thrown in the trash like so much other waste!
Those seated with me came to the table the very same way with the very same skill set – #NOTTATHING.
All undeserving, we FIT at the table, because all of us were adopted into the Kingdom as children with the very same rights as Jesus the Son.
The best news, I don’t have to work hard to keep my seat, either.
I once thought I did….then, one day I realized that was ridiculous.
By faith alone.
In grace alone.
After the gospel of the cross, this is the next best news:
Take your seat…Sit! Stay! Enjoy!
Cease comparing!
Cease striving!
Who are you inviting to the King-table?
Welcome all who would come…just as Ethan was welcomed that first day of Middle School.
Set an extra place….and another…and another.
Show those who will receive their striving-to-belong can cease, as well.
