I had a fascinating conversation the other day with a friend of mine who has been in the United States for 12 years. We were talking about what it's like to live in the United States as a resident alien and those are her words. She doesn't call herself an immigrant, she calls herself a resident alien.

The reason that it was just fascinating is that you would think that after 12 years, you would feel like you're home, but she doesn't. She has a church, she has a job and she has a home. She has a green card so she is allowed to live in the United States permanently. Everything's legal, but she's not a citizen. So even though she's been here for 12 years, even though she's got people here, her heart still longs to be in a place where she shares a corporate history. She shares figures of speech, she shares cultural norms because even after 12 years, every now and then, she'll say something or do something that might be considered awkward in our culture. For her, it's just a consistent reminder that she isn't home.

The reason why I'm thinking about this is because there is a line in the book of Philippians where Paul is reminding the Christians in Philippi saying something along the lines of "hey, I know you live in this city, but you are resident aliens, your citizenship is in heaven. And therefore, you really shouldn't feel too at home here."

"Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." - Philippians 3:17-21

You're always going to feel out of place, you're always going to have some loneliness. I don't know if you ever feel that way, but oftentimes, I walk through life feeling like I just don't fit IN 100%, even with the people I love the most. There is still a yearning in my soul that has just always been there.

So here's the thing: this world is not our home. You and I are here on work visas. We have earthly green cards, but we don't belong here. We're here on mission. What would it look like if you approached everywhere you went and everything you did as though you were only here on a work visa to accomplish a project which is to glorify the Lord? I want to comfort you in knowing that if you do walk around with that feeling of not quite rightness. It's because you are not made for this world and someday Jesus will come back and he will make everything right.