331 – Are You A Misfit?

#faithbites #faithjourney misfit

Tonight, as part of our annual tradition, my family sat down to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Every time before we watch it, I think of it with nostalgia, then as I watch it I remember how bad it is. Between Santa being a jerk, Donner rejecting his son, and on and on it goes. Rudolph even thinks he is worthless because he isn’t like everyone else. They shun him and he runs away. But then at the end, he saves the day because of his abnormality.

In my life, people call an outcast, misfit, not normal, and a hundred other things. These names have haunted me and really taken their toll on my self-worth. Why would God make me an outcast? Then I think that no two of us are alike, so don’t we all have something that makes us a bit of a misfit?

Scripture

(Normally I stick to ESV or NIV translations, but in this case, the MSG translation fit a bit better)

• So David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around—losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all. – 1 Samuel 22:1-2 (MSG)
• Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.” – Luke 14:12 – 14
• The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.” – Isaiah 56:8

Reflection

The bible is filled with outcasts and misfits from Moses to David to Paul to Peter and beyond. Some of the greatest leaders of the church were outcasts or weird or different. God chose them for a reason. He looked at what their abnormalities could be used for.

We are all created for a purpose (Romans 8:28). God made us in his image and perfect (Matthew 5:48). The world as a whole doesn’t know God and doesn’t know why he made us the way he did. I trust God more than the world. If is that uniqueness that some call an abnormality or weirdness or strange that may be how God plans to use us.

All the characters in Rudolph have a purpose. The misfit toys find their right owner. Even the Bumble helps to decorate in high places. What was scary is now helpful.

I hope that you never have someone, like Donner did to Rudolph, try to cover up your nose or make you feel less than perfect.

Charge

This charge is easy: Let Your Freak Flag Fly. Be who God made you. You may not fit a box and may be called weird, strange, or a misfit. But he has a purpose for you. He gave you skills and abilities to be perfect in his image. Let the Holy Spirit use those skills in you.

Lord, let me not be ashamed of how you made me. I am perfect in your eyes through Christ. Give me the strength to accept my differences and acknowledge that you created me for a purpose.