It is easy when you are in a crowd of people to look around and ask the one question “do I fit in?” “do I belong?” As I left my son today at 7th grade football practice for the first time, my stomach is in knots. Bryson is calm, excited and ready for this experience, but me, his mom, I am full of anxiety, nervousness and fear. I pray on my way home for protection and for safety. But as I sit here I ponder about my feelings and that question “do I belong, do I fit in?” What am I trying to have him fit in too? Bryson only wants to play football. He knows that his role on this football team will be a manager, because of his limitations, but what do I want him to experience? It is the question that so many of us deal with and it shows my insecurities so well. We want to be liked, accepted, a part of something. But does God ask us to fit in? I searched at Biblegateway.com for the words “set apart” and I was amazed at how many references that spoke toward being set apart. That is what God wants from us, to stand out for Him. I just finished reading the book Weird by Craig Groschel. The tag line of his book is “because normal isn’t working.” The world has convinced us that we need to fit in and be liked, but that is not God’s way, He calls us to be “set apart” for Him.
So back to Bryson, again what do I really want for my boy? God made Bryson in His image, He created Him for a purpose, God knows and cares about everything in Bryson’s life. So what does God want for my son and the 7th grade football team? I don’t know the answer but in my heart I know what God is asking of me; to trust Him and to make sure that my heart is right in what I want for Bryson. I don’t want my desires to be out of my insecurities, or what the world wants, but out of my love and trust of God. A trust that knows God will make a way for Bryson to fulfill the purposes that he was placed on this earth for, and that I shouldn’t hinder God’s work. Craig in his book Weird also says “I was far more concerned with what the people thought than with what God thought.” I don’t want that to be me. He goes on to say “if you’ve surrendered to normal living rather than the wonderful weirdness of being set apart by God, chances are that people are too big in your life and God is too small. Psalm 34:9 says, “Let the Lord’s people show him reverence, for those who honor him will have all they need.”
Bryson is different; he will stand out on the football field as one who isn’t like the rest of the boys. But my sweet Bryson does not seem to be bothered by that, he embraces the fact that he is there with the rest of the boys. He is living in the moment of just living for who he is, not for what others think of him. I believe that God placed Bryson in my life to teach me such valuable lessons. Am I willing to stand in the middle of something and look different and be at peace because God has placed me to be in that moment at that time for the purposes that He has me to do on this earth? Oh I want that!!!
Galatians 1:10 (NLT)
10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
