On the Outside Lookin’ In

Have you ever felt like you were on the outside looking in?

Of course you have.

Back in our school days, we often referred to this phenomenon as not being in the “in-crowd”. But this feeling of being on the outside is not something we outgrow. Whether acknowledged or not, this reality is ongoing, whether a whisper in our souls or an acute pain because of a recent experience. And we feel it with good reason. We are…on the outside that is.

The Bible describes it with words like exiles or strangers or foreigners. What then are we to do with this common experience felt more often than we would like? A great deal of our energy goes toward trying to anesthetize it. Is there another path, one that can allow us to not deny the ache but rather see it as an opportunity to draw closer to God while working for His kingdom here?