Your Family
The mention of the family always evokes emotion. For me, spending time with my family unit is the closest thing I will get heaven here on earth. I thank the Lord for my loving and kind wife, children, parents, and siblings. In my wife, I have found a great partner from God. In my children, I have found gifts from the Father. And in my parents, I have found wisdom, favor, and spiritual blessing. I am deeply grateful for my family, for they provide a vivid peering glass into the goodness of God in my life.
I know my experience is not shared by all. For others, even reading my above experience stings, and it causes me pain that everyone was not born into the same loving family context that I was blessed to be born into. We do not get to pick our earthly family. But God did pick us to be a part of His family.
God’s Family
The Bible offers hope and encouragement regardless of the earthly family we were born into. Praise the Lord for His love and His desire to redeem us and adopt us into His family. My ability to see the positive parallels of my family and God’s family is easy for me. For those who have had a different family experience than me I want to point to a few scriptural truths about God’s family. I hope these that will help bring into view the immeasurable gift God has given us as adopted children through our faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus.
The Creator of the universe invites us to call Him Father! Can you imagine? The God who breathed the universe into existence invites us to an intimate, loving relationship with Him. (Romans 8:15)
In Jesus we have a friend that sticks even closer than a brother, while also being a brother and co-heir with us! (Romans 8:17) A savior willing to die for us lives to love us today and intercede for you. Now that’s a brother that has your back!
We get to experience Jesus and the Father together as we abide in Jesus and keep Him on the throne of our hearts. John 14:23 states that when we love and obey Jesus, He and the Father come in and dine with us. I love food and fellowshipping with family. The image of our God and Father and our Lord Jesus abiding, fellowshipping, and dwelling with us is incredible!
As brothers and sisters in Christ we make up His body here on earth. The body of Christ, comprised of fellow believers in Jesus, are His hands and feet to the world. I have personally experienced incredible love, joy, encouragement, sacrifice and blessing from my fellow heavenly siblings. My desire is that everyone could enjoy the unity and love I have experienced. (1 John 3:1-3)
Families During Career Transition
In moments of trial, hurt, job loss, uncertainty, having a support system to lean on it invaluable. There have been seasons of my life I needed to be carried and I was, praise be to God.
Your family also needs support from you and others during your career transition, as this is a challenging time for all of you! We talked about this more on episode 18 of the Crossroads Career Podcast with Dale Kreienkamp. We also talk about the other ways that you can find support, such as support from Scripture, and support from friends in our other blog posts this month.
Looking upward to God as your loving Father and relying on Him and the body of Christ to sustain us in our time of need is the answer to our problems. If you are not His child, His arms are open to you through the death and resurrection of Jesus His son. Through your faith in Jesus, you can become adopted into His heavenly family where you can experience the love of God and His heavenly family forever.
Psalms 131:1-3 HCSB
“Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too difficult for me. Instead, I have calmed and quoted myself like a little weaned child with its mother; I am like a little child. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever.”
Marcus Robinson serves on the Crossroads Career Board and is a National Vice President of Sales for UnitedHealthcare’s ACA or individual exchange business. He is also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion executive council and a culture facilitator at UHC. He lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and three children.