A Delightful Inheritance
I struggle with embarrassment about my biological lineage. While I was raised in a “good Christian home,” it’s been broken by mental illness and ended marriage. It's messy and complicated. It's brought a lot of heartache. And it's hard to talk about.
Questions like, “What is your family doing for your birthday/holiday/weekend?,” though well-intentioned, feel loaded. I struggle with how to answer these questions in an honest (yet concise) way. Because of my family’s brokenness, days intended for rest and celebration tend more towards exhaustion and complication.
As my familial circumstances became messier, I became more ashamed to talk about where I came from. In the midst of my pain, the Lord began speaking about heritage and inheritance. As a 21st-century American, these weren’t things I’d previously thought a lot about. However, these themes consistently surfaced in my prayer and scripture reading.
“You come from something good.”
The Lord consistently spoke this simple sentence over me.
Lord, don’t you see what my family looks like? Can’t you number the tears, the hours in counseling, the painful moments? I don’t come from something good.
“You come from something good.”
As He spoke this over me, He also consistently revealed this concept through His word.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
Psalm 16:6 (emphasis mine)
A delightful inheritance.
I'd previously thought of inheritance in the context of wealthy individuals leaving large sums to their surviving relations. But the biblical concept of inheritance is so much richer. You see, inheritance is tied to heritage.
You cannot inherit anything without being part of a specific heritage. When we choose to follow Jesus, His sacrifice not only gives us direct access to God, but it welcomes us into a new family. We become part of his heritage, and therefore, have an inheritance as His sons and daughters.
Through this new heritage, we:
Receive God's kingdom which cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).
Are freed from spiritual orphan-hood (John 14:18).
Become part of a royal heritage (1 Peter 2:9).
Receive a spiritual inheritance (Psalm 37:18).
Regardless of your background or lineage, you can become His child. No matter how messy your biological family may be, you can join a new family and a new heritage. In Jesus, your biological brokenness is erased. In Jesus, you come from something good. In Jesus, you have a delightful inheritance.
The pain of a broken family may not disappear entirely, but the Lord continues to comfort me with the truth about my heritage in Him. I pray this truth touches your heart as well:
“You come from something good.”