November article submission.

We’re…different.

From all sides, secular life is abrasive. Sometimes it feels as though your morality is being scrubbed down with one of those horrible wire brushes. Sometimes it feels more like you’re being pounded by a jack-hammer. People you love and respect pulling on you to make poor decisions, your favorite show taking a turn to the risqué, the beat to that new song is cool except for the raunchy lyrics but everyone is listening to it; sometimes it’s hard to be a sheep in a world of wolves.

Sometimes it’s OK to take time and cry out to God. This is nothing new. Thousands of years ago, when God’s chosen people were trying to make it to their promised land, they were a little nervous about how they were going to get there. And from a secular mindset, they had good reason. They were going to have to cross through borders of enemies and face big, mean, scary peoples who did all the things they weren’t supposed to do. God’s people were going to look stupid. They were going to be outsiders. They were going to smell different, eat different, look different. They worshipped a god who wasn’t on the Top 10. But God told them, ‘don’t be afraid of them, I’m bigger, stronger, faster. I’m fighting for you. Don’t give them a second thought. I’ll get you through this.’ (Deuteronomy 3:22).

Do you ever have moments where it feels impossible? I know that I feel discouraged when we have open discussions about faith in my philosophy class. The same information I hear and marvel at God’s big-ness, they suck Him right out of it. It is as if they can’t see the golden thread of Divinity that is woven through everything known and yet to be discovered. God let me kick this around for a few days before whispering Romans 8:7 to me. With that verse, I felt just a little piece of His heart. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God, not only does it not submit to Him, it just can’t. This realization is saddening. Once again we are reminded that there is a serious need for us to shine as bright and pure as we can through Christ. How can we do that if we’re blending in with the wolf pack? We need to be sheep-ish, in a biblical way. As the holidays approach, try your best to stay true to Grace. Check your materialism. How is your heart? Remember we are set apart, so we’re going to be different. How different are you?