“…Clothe yourselves with the presence of the L0rd J.s.s Chr!st.” Romans 13:14
While I was so very excited to be wearing my orange and purple “shwarma”
(not really it’s name, just what we called it) and trying to “fit in”,
it did not take long for me to know that I was truly not one of them. I
could not keep my head covered. I could not work without getting tangled
up in my dress. I could not walk without tripping or stepping on my
dress. I just seemed to have trouble with every aspect of it.
As I adjusted to my shwarma and desperately wanted to make a difference
among this people, I was reminded that the shwarma was a great
expression of love for this people, but it was not the expression that
would truly impact them. It would be my ability to die to self (even
when it is 127 degrees every day) and allow J.s.s to live through me. It
would be the realness of His Presence alive and expressing His nature,
His compassion, His gentleness, His Sp!r!t, His love for them through me. It would be the heart
of Chr!st being expressed through my actions, my joining in with them in
life and work, my hands helping them in real and personal ways, and my understanding of their real needs.
It was
then that I realized I must clothe myself with something totally
different from a shwarma…I must clothe myself with Him– His
tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love.
His Sp!r!t and the fruit of it displayed in my life would be the only
clothing that could truly impact those with whom we were serving. Making Him known among the nations means truly clothing yourself with the
Presence of the L0rd J.s.s. Chr!st above all things. There is no way
that I in my own strengths, abilities, and thoughts can enter a new
culture and make a difference for Chr!st among them. There is no way
that changing my clothes, my shoes, my eating habits, or my language can
reveal truth to them. Only His Presence has power to reveal truth and
to love. Only His Presence has power to save!