September 25, 2006

Dressed for Success

My clothes closet has a real identity crisis. I’ve always had one foot inside the home and one outside. The last few years I’ve not needed a large assortment of professional clothing, yet I keep hanging onto suits and jackets ‘just in case’ God needs me to get dressed up for something. I think Moses might have had a similar problem (Acts 7:20-30). Smartly dressed, Moses had a closet full of leadership clothes that represented his position, his wisdom and his education in Pharaoh’s household. When he was 40 years-old he mistakenly thought the Israelites would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. After being exposed for killing an Egyptian, Moses packed his bags and fled to Midian where in fact he did become a leader…of sheep. I can imagine Moses’ closet with leadership clothes hanging on one side and sheepherder’s clothes on the other. Four decades passed by the time God was really ready to use Moses to rescue the Israelites. Now the prestigious attire with the bling was no longer appropriate, nor was the shepherd’s clothing. God dressed Moses for success, both mentally and physically, in His time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gail;
----For my whole life I have had a clothes crisis hanging in my closet. I've always taken note of the Billy Grahams, the Chuck Colsons, and the John Elways. The next thought always seemed so natural, "Am I not supposed to do something, too!" All of the preachers and Bible college teachers seemed to think so. Their messages carried the nuance that if you did not become something special for the Lord, He might not notice you.
----But when I opened my Bible, I saw something much different. I saw many ordinary people doing ordinary things with as much faith and dedication to the Lord as their ordinary hearts could hold. The extraordinary was done by the Lord. And all the ordinary things done by all the ordinary people totaled up to an extraordinary sum.
I saw the Bible calling for the extraordinary action of walking faithfully with the Lord and lovingly with others.
----So, for many years I was troubled between the pressure to "be something special" for the Lord or to just do life in the Lord as it comes - should I wear the bling, or the blue jeans? Others see it differently, I know, but I decided for the blue jeans. They feel more real to me.