Alone in a Crowd

Have you ever been in a room full of people, and you knew for all practical purposes you were alone? A few times, I have traveled internationally alone. It is an interesting feeling walking down a foreign airport concourse some 5,000 miles away from anyone you know. It doesn’t really bother me. I love people, but I can also handle solitude.

To be honest, I always feel like Someone is with me. God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrew 13:5 NKJV; see also Joshua 1:5). I know that for a fact not just words on a page.

We are on a planet that is about 24,901 miles in circumference. At the present, Earth is inhabited by about 8 billion people. But this earth is not my home. Strange, since this is the only place, I have ever lived, but this is not my home. No, I am not a Martian. The Apostle Peter called his audience of Christians in 1 Peter 2:11 (NKJV), “sojourners and pilgrims.” Yes, we are strangers in this world and we are on a pilgrim’s journey with Jesus.

The closer I walk with God, the more I feel like a stranger on Earth. The older I get, the more I feel like an alien. And the crazier this place gets, the more out-of-place I feel. That feels like a triple of some sort.

I have felt a little out-of-place lately. Not depressed, just out of sync with the rotation of the world. It is like we all took a long nap, awaken from our sleep, and it is now a different world.

Then there is this scripture in Philippians that just popped up today, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20 NKJV). I bleed red, white, and blue, but I came to a realization many years ago that my citizenship is beyond this ball of clay. In the same sense that I am a citizen of Heaven, I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God. All earthy kingdoms will crumble, and the King of kings and the Lord of lords will reign supremely.

So, in the sense I feel out of place in this world, I am connected to another world that will outlast all that is here.

I am not hiding under the bed until the King arrives; I am trying to be a faithful servant and child until He arrives in full glory. I’m counting down the days even though I do not know how many days there are. There is likely to be more opportunities for faithfulness on the part of Christ’s followers.

My prayers lately have been:
Lord, help me to be faithful to You. Help me to never bring a reproach upon Your name. I am a weak vessel but Your Spirit inside me is strong. Empower me for the work of Your Kingdom. Please, let my life be light in the darkness by Your all-consuming glory. Let the last word on my lips be “JESUS”! Amen!

I am a stranger, a sojourner, and a pilgrim on the dirt path of this world. I still have my hands on the plow and not looking back. My head is not down where I am kicking clods of dirt, but my head is raised with an angle toward the eastern sky looking for a burst of glory!

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt