Sometimes I feel like no one else thinks the way I think or sees the world the way I see it. Everyone else seems to see everything in purple and I see it in yellow. The difference is that stark. We might as well be in totally different universes.
This difference in glasses leads to a deep divide separating me from the rest of humanity - or at least that is how it feels! Everyone else can relate to each other but I simply cannot. My views, opinions and beliefs cause me to live in an entirely different manner then the people I see around me.
Let me explain it this way: everyone is attending a party and I never even got an invitation.
This feeling takes me back to grade school when one girl would have a birthday bash and wouldn't invite all the kids in the class. Instead she would pick and choose her favorites to give out the coveted invitation to. As it would often turn out, over half the class would get invited but a select few would be left off the guest list. The birthday girl would not even mention said party to those not-so-fortunate girls and boys who wouldn't be given the chance to attend. The party would be kept at hush tones. The kids not invited deemed as "losers" by the rest of the party goers.
This is the feeling of being an outsider, looking in on the comings and goings of a world you don't belong in. At times this feeling has really bugged me. It has made me question myself. What's wrong with me that people don't seem to "like" me? Have you ever been burdened with this question? Has the lack of a birthday invite ever left you down in the dumps, rethinking your personality and character? Do you ever wonder why you seem to be a lone island floating in the ocean while everyone else is on the same land mass, so far away from you that it is just a speck on your map?
Beloved, you aren't alone. I, too, have these feelings. I, too, have questioned who I am and wondered if I should change to find acceptance in this world. But recently my questioning has come to an abrupt halt. I no longer ask myself why the world doesn't "like" me. Instead, I have discovered that being in opposition to the world is a sign that I am in agreement with God.
Look at this verse found in Galatians 1:10: "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
How foolish I have ever been to question why I do not have the world's favor and adoration. If I am a servant of Christ, wholly devoted to Him, then I should expect to stand in stark opposition to the world because, quite frankly, I am not in this for their approval. If I am seeking their approval then I am not a servant of Christ. It is as simple as that. I am either living for the world, following its beliefs, morals (or lack thereof), standards and expectations or I am standing against those things and standing for God's rule book and His commands. When you stand on one side of the fence then it is a given: you are standing apart from the other side.
The question of why the world doesn't like me has been replaced in my mind. Now instead of looking to the world for approval I am looking to God and asking Him, am I living according to your Word? Am I doing all I could be doing for your kingdom? Am I tending to my relationship with you and carving out time for you? Am I relying solely on the Lord for encouragement and direction?
Are my eyes fixed on Jesus Christ?
Or am I letting my gaze wander to the world around me?
When we fix our eyes solely on Jesus the world fades away. We no longer seek the approval of man. In fact, we expect to be rejected by the world - and that is more than okay. The world's rejection is just another indication of our oneness with Christ.
When we are His servants we will not be winning the approval of this world. Our approval will be in heaven. And our God who is waiting there for us, preparing a place for us, will see to it that we are taken care of no matter what the world may throw our way or what rejection we might come up against. Our Father in Heaven will be smiling down on us with the widest grin you can imagine and that, dear reader, is greater then any party invitation this world can give.
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