Isaiah 26:3 You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.
I remember long time ago in another congregation I served (won’t say which one), I pulled up in my Mazda Miata Convertible with the top down on a beautiful summer Sunday morning. And although the hot red sports car looked like a million dollar toy to a few of my parishioners…what they did not know was that I obtained it for $2,000 dollars at an Auto Auction. I was asked immediately by Deacon Dry Dust (can’t give out his real name) whether I was concerned about the message my driving a flashy sports car might send to the church. And I said “Nope, I am not concerned”—and then proceeded to go about my business of preaching my heart out to a spiritually hungry people.
Not too many weeks later I decided to ride my motorcycle and I happened to be pulling in just as the same Deacon (Deacon Dry Dust) was getting out of his car. I prepared myself to be questioned again only this time the Deacon came over and began to affectionately reminisce over the days when he himself road his 1975 Goldwing. I asked him why he had stopped doing something that brought him such great freedom and happiness…and he proceeded to tell me about how all the duties and responsibilities in his life had increased…not to mention how he had “gotten saved”… and because he had “gotten saved”…he no longer felt he needed to immerse himself in risky pleasures. All the while I was thinking how good it would be if Deacon Dry Dust could get out of his sack-clothe…and get some wind in his hair… and get “unsaved” from such a joyless existence that he personified all too well. Brothers and sisters what happens when God’s chosen people become God’s frozen people?
It seems to me that often Christian people will spend considerable time and energy clothing others the way they think they should dress (parenthetically speaking). In short it seems people like it when others conform to their narrow version of what a Christian should be. I think of David the shepherd boy who volunteered to go mano a mano with Goliath, and King Saul tried to clothe the shepherd boy with a soldier’s armor. After all, Goliath stood over nine feet tall. He wore a bronze helmet and a 125-pound coat of mail. He bore bronze leggings and carried a javelin and a spear with a 15-pound head (1 Samuel 17:4-7). And David? David had a slingshot. This is a VW Bug playing blink with an eighteen wheeler.
When Saul saw pimpled David, and then looked at monstrous Goliath he did what any Iron Age king would do. “Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail” (1 Samuel 17:38) But David rejected the armor, selected the stones, lobotomized the giant, and taught a powerful lesson: what fits others might not fit you! Just because someone gives advice, an opinion, a judgement, a promotion, a piece of their mind, or unsolicited input…DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT IT ! In other words, Let your uniqueness define your path of life. God has made you Uniquely U ! Just some food for thought.