Being Odd

Let me start with a bold statement: We are all a bit odd. Everyone has a unique personality, unique physique, and a unique set of emotions. Those things make up who we are as individuals. And isn’t it grand that no two of us are exactly the same! Even twins have something different about each one of them (from experience with a set of identical twins I can tell you that not everything is identical about them). Whether it’s our personality, our physical appearance, or our moods, there is something about us that is like no one else on the earth.

God made us that way. Psalm 139:13 says, “For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb.” And our response to God for His creating us: “I will give thanks to Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well.” (verse 14, NASB) I marvel that we are each created by a living and active God. God knows me intimately, because He made me.

He also knows me intimately, because He keeps tabs on me. Verses 1 and 3 talk about that. In part, it says, “O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me . . . Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways.” He even knows “when I sit down and when I rise up;” and He “understands my thoughts from afar.” (verse 2) He’s not a god who made me and then just let things happen. He scrutinizes my daily happenings, and I believe He intervenes when I need help or comfort.

It is a comfort to me to know He knows everything there is to know about me. It also challenges me to do the next right thing, whether or not that action seems “odd” to someone else or not. For me, this means actually getting up and getting ready for my day in a timely manner – not because someone is watching me, but because God is watching and knows when I rise up.

I was talking about being odd or different. It’s a good thing because it’s the way God made each of us. God plans to use the ways we are different for specific purposes. I can’t say I understand or know what God is thinking. I don’t know how my oddities will be useful to God and for His glory. I just know that God made me this way and that He did it for a divine purpose. I can rise up each morning and expect Him to do something wondrous. I just have to be looking for His work in and through my life. And, keep letting me do things and be “odd” according to how He made me.