Some time ago, I took my boys to Jonesboro on “guy’s day out.”  For lunch, we stopped at one of our favorite gluten-free friendly restaurants, TaMolly’s.

While waiting for our food, I decided to visit the restroom.  Distracted by thoughts of all that I wanted to get done that day, I turned left when I should have turned right.  That’s when it happened.  I looked up and there I was in the ladies’ restroom!  Bless her heart, the poor woman at the sink didn’t know what to do, think, or say.  She stammered something in my direction.  Embarrassed, I responded, then sheepishly backed out of the room.  How awkward is that?

Devotional

Thinking back on that moment, I have drawn one very important application, there are certain places in which I am out of place.  It was both obvious that I didn’t belong there and awkward that I found myself in that position.

I want to challenge your faith!  When was the last time you felt that way about the world?  When was the last time it was both obvious that you didn’t belong here and awkward that you found yourself in the midst of worldliness?  Are you out of place?  Can others tell that you are out of place?

1 Peter 2:11 (NIV) “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…”

Last year, after speaking at a funeral service, there was a bit of irony on the way to the grave site. We were in a long string of cars under police escort when an ambulance began passing. It took some time for the emergency vehicle to make its way to the front of our procession. Once the police officer spotted the ambulance, he stopped all of us and allowed them to pass.

As the ambulance passed the hearse, I thought about the bodies in each vehicle. One carried the body of a person for which time meant everything. The other carried a body for which time meant nothing. Although the world would never see it this way, it was the hearse that gave me the most comfort. The Christian man, whose body was on its way to the grave, had been freed from time and the stress of urgent schedules. For the first time in his long journey of life, he was truly at rest.  He was out of place down here.

Like the man in the story above, we too should feel very out of place down here. Somewhere over the horizon, we will end our travels, lay down beside the river of life, and rest ourselves in the lap of God. Only then will we truly belong!

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The story above was taken from the book, “A Funny Thing Happened On Our Way to Heaven” by Sonny Childs. In the spirit of those chicken soup books, this collection of 52 short stories is sure to inspire.

To purchase your copy, use the buy now button below.