We can't all be the hands

“-at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah, son of Amoz. He said to him, ‘Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.’ And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.” –Isaiah 20:2
Reading this last night before going to sleep, replaying over and over in my head was that “and he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.” It really made me think a lot about the obedience we should desire to have of the Lord. I found that I was asking myself, if the Lord asked me to go around stripped and barefoot for three years-would I do it. And then I was thinking, wow, okay, so I probably wouldn’t be asked to actually walk around naked and shoeless for three years today (that may lead to a small problem with the police), but we can certainly be asked to walk around stripped and barefoot in several different areas. I was thinking that without really even having to ask me, there are things that I need to strip myself of. I think that main thing would be my insecurity. I need to strip that away and become more organic-a bit more naked. I know that I tend to walk around with this bubble of protection up because I’m terrified of what people will think about me; about whether or not I’m smart enough, or capable enough, or look right or dress right. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I’m going to stop caring about the way I present myself, that I’m just going to wear pajamas all the time and mismatched clothing- I want to take pride in the way I look; to not be a complete slob, but not care about whether or not people care if I’m always wearing the most expensive and fashionable clothing. In our home group last night, we started discussing Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God, and it came up in conversation that the things we do should not be done out of a half-heartedness. That what we commit ourselves to doing is not about how much we do to impress other people and to look Christian, but that what we do should be done out of a desire to serve God and to please Him. Seems pretty basic, right? Well, I thought so too because I have recently been struggling with this myself. I have found that sometimes at our church, we have to fit just right into a certain mold- we shouldn’t listen to certain music, or go to certain venues or hang out with those types of people because it’s not what Christian’s do. However, I think what’s really cool is that this is probably completely backwards thinking. Jesus did not fit into any mold. It was also brought up that when he healed the blind, seven different times, he did this miracle in seven different ways. There was not right way to have to heal people, no mold to fit into that would cause us to recognize this way as God’s way. He just healed people in whatever way was right for that moment, and that situation. Now, the other point here is, did He just heal people half-heartedly? Well, no. He always did His work with the most excellence. I think that sometimes we forget to do things excellently, and just do them for the sake of looking Christian. I know that sometimes it seems there is a mold of the right way to do Christian things- we have true worship when we are raising our hands, or down on our knees and our faces covered in tears. Now, for some people, this may be genuine and the way that they truly connect with God and recognize His presence; for others (like myself), it’s not. And that’s okay. For some, it may be doing our morning devotions and spending time in the Word for a certain amount of time and setting aside specific periods of time for prayer; for others, it may not. Our relationships with God are not supposed to fit into a specific mold. They are supposed to be genuine and true. There is no mathematic or scientific formula that we have to try to figure out, or special code we have to crack to be able to have an authentic relationship with God. Our relationships are just the opposite in fact, or should be, to be truly organic. That’s the cool thing about being a Christian. Sure, there are steps of obedience we need to take-like Isaiah’s example of following God’s direction of walking around stripped and barefoot for three years, but we shouldn’t do these things because we think they make us better Christian’s or better people, or to “one up” other Christian’s with our goodness- we should do them out of a love for God and a desire to follow His will for our lives. We are not God’s giant sheet of cookie dough waiting to be stamped into teddy bear patterns-we are His each cut into just the right shape for what He wants to do with us. We shouldn’t try to conform to the Christianese way of thinking; we should simply be the person we are made to be and be unashamed of whom that is. It’s really quite freeing if we realize that what works and is needed for one person is not necessarily what works and is needed for ourselves. Like Tony said, we can’t all be hands.