What to Do When You’re Feeling Left Out by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

We all feel left out at one time or another. Maybe we weren’t invited to a party or didn’t receive a response on an email. Or we thought we’d be chosen for a task, but didn’t get the call. I remember as a child being a little overweight with thick coke-bottle-lensed glasses. I did not look athletic so I was one of the last selected for a team. As it turned out, I was an athlete in high school and college, but it didn’t remove the sting of not being chosen in those elementary years.

What do you do when you’re feeling left out?

I find that if you give each day to God, you have to trust His direction. If you don’t get the job, the party evite never shows up in your inbox, or you’re left out of a group, you have to believe that it wasn’t God’s best for you. There is peace in that mindset. Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Sometimes the voice is silent and that can be God’s way of saying, “Stop. Don’t walk.”

We all want to be liked and included, but when we’re not, we shouldn’t believe it’s because we are disliked or unloved. You are God’s beautiful work of art, formed in the womb. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

I am a hopeless overachiever. What about you? But what I find is that when I surrender each day to God, He’ll take care of the bookings, the work and the social schedule. He does not want us to be so busy that we are worn out and don’t have time for Him.

So instead of feeling left out, you might reconsider your thoughts and say, Thank you Lord for carving out time in my life. Guard my heart, and help me to use this extra time to rest and honor you.