From Invisible To Invited: Receiving God’s Love When You Feel Like You Don’t Belong

Most of us know the feeling of standing in a crowd and asking ourselves, Do I belong here? I appreciate Oghosa Iyamu’s vulnerability in sharing that she has had seasons in her personal life and ministry when she has not only felt unwelcomed but invisible. But as Oghosa reminds us, God’s welcome transcends our circumstances and perceived limitations, bringing us back again and again to a profound, impartial love. It’s a privilege to have Oghosa join us on the porch today…

Guest Post by Oghosa Iyamu

“Again, Oghosa, try that again.”

I can still hear her voice whispering in my ear.

My Title I teacher gently guided me to take one more shot at reading the words on the page.

Yet, frustration—not a desire to try again—welled up inside me.

When you’ve spent years feeling the shame of being in the lowest reading group, struggling with dyslexia, and pulled out of class to work on what others seemed to learn so easily, you start to wonder,

Does God really love me like He loves other kids?

You begin to question whether your struggles disqualify you from the plans and promises you hear about in the Bible (Romans 8:28, Philippians 1:6).

Though you might not recognize it, your fears both frame and reflect how you think about God. 

I learned this early, growing up in the projects of Jackson, Mississippi, where fear was an ever-present reality. Does God care? Could He really be trusted? It felt as though my doubts had already begun to answer those questions for me.

I still sometimes feel like a child grappling to read, not because I am still learning in school, but because I am still learning how to receive God’s love, even as I stare at my present lack.

Like that ten-year-old girl who felt like a failure, I wrestle with questions like:

“If we ever feel like we don’t belong or that we’re only partially loved, we need only look at the table Jesus chose to sit at. “

Does God love me as much as He loves other people who seem to have it all? Does God see me here in this struggle? If God is good, why hasn’t He answered my prayers?

Often our greatest enemies aren’t around us but within us: fears, doubts, and unhealed wounds. Yet, as David the psalmist said of God: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5).

David is proclaiming the character of God as a generous Host, One who provides and protects, not just after all the battles are over, but right in the middle of them, as David himself experienced. He is also reminding us that God’s welcome extends to each one of us (Psalm 23:5a), even those of us with complicated pasts, hidden scars, and well-worn masks. 

This theme of radical welcome is beautifully lived out throughout the New Testament, perhaps most poignantly at the table where Jesus shared a meal with His disciples the night before His death.

If you and I were to peek into that first-century Jewish meal—into the room where Jesus shared His Last Supper—we’d likely witness it taking place on a mat, or low table with everyone reclining on cushions (Matthew 26:20). And we might be surprised who was sitting at Jesus’s table.

“This table reflects His desire that His foes might one day become His friends, that each one of us might draw near and taste of His goodness. It speaks of the possibility of transformation. It celebrates the hope of sitting in communion with Him and also with one another, including those we find hardest to love.“

Around this table was a mix of misfits, tax collectors, fishermen, doubters, and even a betrayer. Some were steadfast in their devotion, while others wrestled with unbelief and wavering faith. This intimate gathering offers a striking picture of God’s impartial welcome into His kingdom: The flawed, the wealthy, the poor, the haves, and the have-nots all are invited into the presence of the One who offers redemption.

But God not only welcomes us to His table, He lovingly sets it. 

At this meal, Jesus, God the Son, is the generous Host offering fellowship that is both personal and communal. He sits down next to the undeserving and the untrusting. And He sees each one.

Jesus demonstrated the fullness of His love through the breaking of His body like bread and the pouring out of His blood like wine. His actions offer a constant and potent reminder: If we ever feel like we don’t belong or that we’re only partially loved, we need only look at the table Jesus chose to sit at. 

Because this moment wasn’t limited to those seated around the table that night. God’s invitation reaches far beyond the disciples. At this Last Supper, Jesus showed His disciples that loving one another means sacrificing without condition, as He had done and would do: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34–35).

God sets a table in the presence of enemies not to shame or taunt, but to reveal the abundant mercy at the heart of His kingdom (Romans 5:10, Ephesians 2:4-9). 

This table reflects His desire that His foes might one day become His friends, that each one of us might draw near and taste of His goodness. It speaks of the possibility of transformation. It celebrates the hope of sitting in communion with Him and also with one another, including those we find hardest to love.

God’s love has nothing to do with us being “worthy.” It’s offered to all who would receive it.

That includes you…and me. 

I didn’t know it then, sitting across from my Title I teacher, fumbling through another sentence, that I was holding an invitation to sit at God’s table and to see myself the way God sees me.

This welcome is in front of you today as well.

“You simply need to come—in the middle of your questions, your inadequacies, your still-working-on-it places—and take your seat.“

It is a welcome that says you don’t have to earn your place or prove your stay.

You simply need to come—in the middle of your questions, your inadequacies, your still-working-on-it places—and take your seat.

God isn’t waiting for you to pray the perfect words or have unshaken faith. He’s inviting you to receive what He has already prepared.

His table is set.

His arms are open.

And His love is welcoming you.

Come to the table. 

Oghosa Iyamu is a Bible teacher and writer with over twelve years of ministry experience serving on staff at churches and working in Christian publishing. She holds a Master of Divinity from Southwestern and is passionate about helping others see the beauty of God’s Word through its historical and theological depth.

Her debut Bible study, Forever Welcomed: A Study on God’s Impartial Love for All, traces the theme of God’s gracious and undeserving welcome from Genesis to Revelation. It’s a six-week journey that invites readers to explore God’s heart for every tribe, tongue, and story, and to live as people formed by His hospitality.

Find more from Oghosa at oghosaiyamu.com or on Instagram @oghosaiiyamu.

{Our humble thanks to Moody Publishers for their partnership in today’s devotional.}