Hello Friend!
Fall is snapping its fingers down here in the South, telling us to hurry up and prepare for cooler days and cozy evenings.
So I slipped into my favorite store the other day {TJ Maxx} and slid my fingers through rows of sweaters.
Choosing a few, I sauntered over to the dressing room to find out which ones might come home with me. I pulled a soft cream sweater over my head. “This would look good on you,” a salesgirl had offered, holding it out to me. As I turn to the mirror, it seems she’s right. “Not bad,” I think.
Then I feel it. The sweater has a chunky neck, thick like wide rope and even in the few seconds I have it on I begin to feel the weight. “Doesn’t fit right–too heavy,” I think to myself and decisively return it to the hanger.
Later that evening, a small bag of purchases resting neatly on the end of my bed, I stare up at the ceiling. It feels as if I’m watching an invisible parade of expectations, challenges, obstacles. A carefree day has given way to cares as night quietly settles in to revel my personal Goliaths again.
I think of David and what he wore that fateful day. When he agreed to fight the giant, King Saul offered his armor. David put it on and perhaps noticed it offered more protection than his shepherd’s robe.
But then he feels it. The weight tugging at his shoulders. The heaviness making his steps more labored. I reach for my neck instinctively, remembering the sweater, and I wonder if that’s how he felt too. “Doesn’t fit right–too heavy,” I imagine him thinking.
David turns down Saul’s offer and steps onto the battlefield with slings, stones and clothes that seems entirely out of place. And he wins.
As I turn my thoughts back to those Goliaths in my mind–the expectations and challenges–I realize I’ve been trying to battle them in someone else’s armor. Well-meaning words have been spoken to me…”This would look work well for you.” But they don’t fit.
I can feel the weight of someone else’s armor pulling me down. Little by little, I strip back down to the simplicity of me.
I breathe a sigh of light relief. And I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face, happy that God never gives us the armor of anyone else to wear. Whatever the situation is, what He offers fits us.
And we win.
xoxo
p.s. A fun question: What’s your favorite store? 🙂 And a serious one: What helps you fight the battles in your life?
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