{Be Confident} The Beauty of Being Different

When I was a senior in high school I was restless.  In a world filled with college applications and dreams of the future I had no idea what I was going to do with my life.  I had so many interests in so many things.  While my friends knew what they wanted to get their degrees in and which careers were the ones they wanted to pursue, I fought back tears of frustration.  My heart found itself brought to life by so many things.  Nothing seemed to stand out more than anything else.  I didn’t fit into a career path or a college major, it just wasn’t that simple.

My dreams were filled with ideas of opening a bakery where freshly baked bread filled the air in the morning and live music filled the air at night.  Oh, how I loved the art of writing music and connecting people!  But, I also loved painting, painting soothed me.  I wanted a garden that grew fresh flowers, and crisp vegetables.  It could be at my house, or outside my bakery- that small fact didn’t matter- because regardless, whatever came from the garden would supply my table and the needs of my little restaurant.

I dreamed that summers would be spent traveling while I would learn new recipes from each place I visited.  I’d learn the art of french pastry, and the secret to creamy italian gelato, and then bring my knowledge back to my sweet little bakery.  I’d hang my paintings on the walls and enjoy the people that passed through until the next adventure called my name. I’d create tasty dishes, and share good conversation.

The dreams kept coming, and they kept changing.  Sometimes the bakery seemed like too much work, so I travelled the world with my music instead.  Other times I wrote books and taught high school, inspiring the minds of young teenagers both in the classroom and across the world.

I had no idea what I wanted to do, all I really knew, was that was creative.

Finally the time came when all of my friends left our small town for their four year universities.  I was one of the few to stay back, persuaded by my parents that taking classes at a community college was my best bet.  But all I wanted was to be like my friends.  I wanted to fit in. I didn’t want to do what they weren’t doing.  I didn’t want to stay home.  I wanted to be with them, to be like them, to know the direction of my life.  I hated it.  It made things hard.  I didn’t understand it and I felt like no one understood me.  I was so caught up in their lives that I lost sight of mine.

I was different.

So many of us are dying to fit in, but we were made to stand out.  We’re frustrated because it seems as if no one really gets us.  No one really understands.  They strive to encourage us, and help us better understand what we’re going through, but what their doing is putting a bandaid on a bruise.  Its well intended, but it doesn’t really fit.

It doesn’t really fit because its not supposed to.

The end of Romans 9:20 says:

Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

The answer is no.  The writer of the verse is being sorta sassy, because the obvious answer is no.  You don’t see paintings jump down off of the walls and ask their painter “Why did you paint me this way?!”.  Nope.

But as God’s artwork, we do that, don’t we?

When we are frustrated because we don’t fit in, we look at God, our Creator, and begrudgingly ask: “Why did you create me this way?”  We look at the lives of the people around us and get caught up in the things we see.  We compare and contrast and hate ourselves when we feel as if we don’t measure up to everyone else.

Dear girl, you were not made for that.

Maybe you were made to stand out.  Maybe you were made to be different for a reason.

In fact- I know you were.

If we were all meant to be like each other there would be no need for each other.  Everyone brings something different to the table.  I think one of the biggest things that destroys our ability to have community with each other is the fact that we’ve convinced ourselves that we are in competition with each other.

And you can’t have community if you’re in constant competition.

Maybe God knows what he’s doing by allowing you to not fit in with those around you.  Maybe He’s letting you stand out for a reason.  Maybe he doesn’t want you to settle where you are, maybe he’s got more for you than that.

Maybe, you’re being set a part for something incredible.

xo

AnnaFilly