Living Life by Design

My wife and I just returned from visiting my son who is stationed at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. This was our second visit over the last year. We born and raised in California so each time we visit back East, we feel like strangers & aliens in a foreign land…lol. Shopkeepers immediately recognize that we are from another state and after just a few words they ask if we’re from California. People seem to be kinder, more open and inviting, for the most part. However, neither of us ever feel “at home.”

Do you ever feel like you don’t quite fit in with those around you when traveling to another state or country? How about at school, work or even in your neighbourhood? Do your values and lifestyle seem to be a little different? Do you sometimes face ‘scorn’ and ‘contempt’ (Psalm 119:22)?

In Psalm 119, the psalmist says, ‘I am a stranger on earth’ (v.19). All the great men and women in the Old Testament were ‘strangers on earth’ (Hebrews 11:13). The apostle Peter writes, ‘Live your lives as strangers here’ (1 Peter 1:17). Like the psalmist, as servants of God, we are called to be different from those around us.

Pastor Russ Stiverson once told me that, “We are to proclaim the gospel of Christ with whatever means necessary. We are to use all our heart, mind, soul and strength to accomplish this. And, when all else fails, use words.” 

Do you simply, “blend in?” Or are you a stranger on earth?