Set Apart, Not Left Out

There are moments in life when being left out feels like the loudest echo in the room.

I know this feeling well. At work, I’m often the youngest in the room. Everyone else seems to know each other — family names, shared memories, long histories woven together like a quilt. And then there’s me: the one without the last name that carries weight, the one without aunties and uncles in the circle, the one who wasn’t there for the stories that bind them together.

And it shows. I’ve been left out of conversations. Skipped in group chats. Not invited to plans. For a long time, it hurt. I wondered if it was because I was too young, too quiet, too different. Maybe I didn’t belong. Maybe I wasn’t enough.

But over time, I’ve started to see it differently.

Maybe I’m not left out. Maybe I’m set apart.

Because here’s the truth I keep coming back to: God’s rejection is His protection.

The rooms I’m not invited into? Maybe they’re rooms I was never meant to enter. The circles I don’t fit in? Maybe they’re circles too small for the vision God placed inside me. The conversations I don’t get pulled into? Maybe they’re distractions that would pull me away from what matters most.

When I shift my perspective, I realize that what looks like exclusion may actually be grace. Protection. A divine redirection that keeps me from settling into spaces not meant for me.

Being set apart isn’t easy. It feels lonely at times. It feels unfair. It feels like everyone else is walking through doors while you’re waiting outside. But being set apart also means being chosen. It means being held for something greater. It means God saw those rooms, those circles, those conversations — and said: not you, not here, not now.

And I’ve learned to trust that.

Because being set apart has stretched me. It has forced me to dream bigger than the table in front of me. It has reminded me that my worth isn’t defined by invitations, popularity, or belonging to the right groups. My worth is defined by the One who calls me His.

So if you’ve ever felt like the outsider — too young, too new, too unknown, too different — I want you to hear this: You are not left out. You are set apart.

And being set apart is not a punishment. It’s preparation.

God isn’t withholding belonging from you. He’s protecting you, shaping you, and positioning you for something greater than you could imagine.

So take heart. The rejection you feel today may be the very proof that you are being saved for a purpose tomorrow.

You are not forgotten. You are not overlooked. You are set apart.

With ʻUhane, From Me to You,

ʻUhane Hawaiʻi