I’ve written about this before, but it’s been on the forefront of my mind recently, and so I’m writing about it again. I’ve been thinking about the biblical account of a young shepherd who slew a terrifying adversary. For many, the story of David and Goliath calls forth memories of flannel graph storyboards in a Sunday school room and would-be slingshots created from felt and yarn. It might also bring to mind phraseology wrought from the story over the years, such as “Face your giants.” But I’ve been thinking about David’s fashion statement.
Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge.
David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off.
1 Samuel 17:38-39
David realized that what served Saul in battle was only going to trip him up. Though Saul had the best of intentions, he was heaping onto David things that were ill-fitting and too heavy, and they immobilized David. For David to move forward into his destiny, he had to be David. One size, when it came to battle attire, did not fit all.
Neither does one size fit all when it comes to our moving forward into our destinies. One aspect of our destinies that every other aspect spills out of is how we relate with God- not to him, but with him. Perhaps the distinction is only in my own mind; yet it seems to make such an important, albeit subtle, difference. It’s the difference between merely having reference of something or someone versus growing a relationship. In any case, it is an ever-growing, intimate friendship with God that propels us into our true selves; it is the catalyst for our “becoming.” Herein often lies the problem that many of us have dealt with in one form or another. How often we miss the nuances of his gentle persuasion, his wooing of our hearts, his invitation to dance with him in a wide, open space because we’ve succumbed to One Size Fits All Christianity. So many times, with the best of intentions, one or another of us as followers of Christ- individually or corporately- will attempt to be “helpful.” We’ll take what has helped us in the past, but rather than offering it as something to try, we use it as a formula or rule, and we unintentionally heap heavy burdens onto others. This tends to stunt that blossoming romance of the heart because there so often comes a paralysis of the soul as we (yes, I’m putting “we” onto both sides of the field because I would imagine that all of us have been on the giving as well as receiving sides at one point or another) try to move with “stuff” on us that we’re not used to. The enemy is all too willing to point out that our helmet isn’t placed appropriately, or we’re not holding our shield just the right way. We’re messing up, we’re failing, and how can we ever hope to have the kind of relationship with God and walk in freedom and joy with such a sense of destiny as so-and-so.
One size does NOT fit all. I’m not speaking of the absolutes of wrong and right, nor of those things that all Christians have in common that are unchangeable and concrete. I’m speaking about our own personal journeys of becoming. God is a God of creativity and variety, and his relationship with you will look like his relationship with no one else’s. I read a book recently wherein the author noted that “C.S. Lewis had once surmised that each person is created to see a different facet of God’s beauty- something that no one else can see in quite the same way- and then to bless all worshipers through all eternity with an aspect of God they could not otherwise see.”
There are beautiful robes with which God wants to adorn all his children, and they’re tailor-made; hand-crafted by a Father who loves each of his children with such incredible passion, that he elaborates on your attire as he does no one else’s. You’re his favorite, you know! And so am I.
So Father, here am I, your favorite daughter, and I thank you for each of these, my brothers and sisters, who likewise are your favorites. For those who have for far too long now attempted to wear hand-me-downs or to don borrowed garments that were really meant for someone else, I ask you to wrap them up in your arms, first and foremost. I ask you to give them a heavenly mirror, and as they gaze at their reflection, may they see only the person you see when you look at them- someone in whom you delight and find great joy; someone with whom you’re pleased; someone who is the apple of your eye. May they then recognize the beauty and majesty of how you intend to outfit them. To paraphrase a book title, Daddy God, my brothers and sisters were created originals; may they not be content to die as copies.
I love you, Jesus.
