In my subconscious surrender to the female stereotype, I was out routinely shopping the other day when I noticed a woman trying on this gorgeous dress! I could practically hear a heavenly choir singing "Aaahhhhh!!" She looked absolutely stunning in this dress...so of course I decided I needed to have one just like it! I found a duplicate dress and proceeded to the fitting room, expecting to hear my own chorale production! To my dismay, it was a big “Wa Wa Wa Waaaa!!” I would have to introduce my booty to the ancient Chinese custom of binding if I wanted to do this dress justice!! It just wasn't the right fit for me!
I realized how closely this scenario parallels the pursuit to find our calling in life. It is so easy to look around us and envy the talents, ambitions and achievements of others. I’m sure I’m not the only one with the occasional reveries of performing on stage like Christina Aguilera or dunking a basketball like Lebron James. Okay so maybe that’s a little dramatic, but perhaps you wish you possessed your coworker’s natural ability to speak in front of a crowd with ease or your friend’s uncanny knack for making a complete stranger feel as if they’ve known each other for a lifetime. We want to emulate a desired trait and try to fit ourselves into a mold that was probably never designed for us. We may be successful at squeezing into the mold, but it becomes very uncomfortable!
We have all been uniquely called by God and He created us with specific gifts to fulfill the purpose He designed for our lives. Scripture shows us in 1 Corinthians 12:4-31 that just as one body has many parts integral to the health of the body, we as believers in Christ have specific callings imperative to the unity of the church. 1 Corinthians 12:18 specifically tells us that God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be! How encouraging it is to know that God has already given each of us everything we need to fulfill His plan for our lives!
Back to my shopping experience, I reluctantly accepted the fact that I was not going to be leaving the store that day with the gorgeous dress. I decided to peruse the store as I stumbled upon a pair of what looked to be the most comfortable sweatpants on earth! Given my previous experience in the fitting room, I immediately looked at the tag and was elated to read “One Size Fits All!!” PERFECT! I left the store, toting a pair of “One Size Fits All” sweatpants for both me AND my sister!
Even though we may have unique giftings in life, there is one calling that was intended for all of us! Like a “One Size Fits All”, we are all called to LOVE! In Mark 12:28-31, a religious scholar asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is, to which Jesus responded “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lordour God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lordyour God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Above ALL ELSE, He simply calls us to love Him and to extend that same love to others! It truly is the right fit!
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