Outside Looking In

Have you ever felt like you are jut on the outside looking in? Have a feeling like you are missing out or not being included?

Last week I gave my two-week notice. I will be going to a new job with new opportunities. This move was my choice. Here it is one week later and I am still sitting at the same desk with nothing left to do. I have gone from receiving over a hundred emails a day to fewer then 20. I went from having at least 3 hours of meetings a day to attend to none. I hear people in the cubicles around me working on things that just a few short days ago I was a key contributor for and now I am excluded from the discussion; on the outside looking in.

Sometimes we end up on the outside looking and it is totally outside of our control. The other night there was a call to pray for the Hispanics in our church. I was so excited for them, but at the same time my heart breaks. I am not Hispanic and yet God has given me such a heart for that people that I my first reaction was to step forward too, but then I caught myself and backed out of the way; on the outside looking in.

Other times we are not included because we don’t make our desires known. I have attended the same church since 1992 and yet it wasn’t until 2004 that I told anyone that I played guitar and wanted to be a part of the worship team. No one knew I had the desire or the skill to belong on the team; on the outside looking in.

In those times of feeling left out; we need to examine ourselves first and make sure it is not our fault. It is not because of the choice we made or that we have kept ourselves hidden. We need to examine our heart and make sure it is right and if it is beyond our control, we rejoice with those that rejoice and we weep with those that weep and trust God that He has planted us exactly where we are always included with Him.