Dressing-Up to Cover-Up

Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk,  for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." And David took them off. 1 Samuel 17:38-39

The story of David, the little shepherd boy, and Saul, the giant of a King, reminds me of playing dress-up. As a little girl, I enjoyed trying on my mother's clothes and clopping in her over-sized heels. I felt so "grown-up". The problem, however, is I could not get around without tripping over hemlines and twisting ankles as I attempted to stride in her ill-fitting shoes, and I remained a little girl in spite of my adult apparel. David was much wiser than I was, and perhaps his example continues to illuminate my feeble attempts as an adult to play dress-up. He recognized that in order to slay the giant that was taunting God's people, he would have to go dressed as himself. He exuded confidence in who God had made him and trusted God for the outcome (I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted-1 Samuel 17:45). The problem with playing dress-up, is that we are attempting to cover up what we label as inadequacies and deficiencies in our person-hood, character, or abilities. Even King Saul felt that donning the armor of a King would veil David's small stature, but David did not focus on his small stature. Instead, he was able to focus on his big God and accept the way God had designed him. 

We spend, or rather waste, our lives when we dress-up, or cover-up, what we believe to be inferior or broken. We justify our choices, while we trip over our over-sized protective armor we have donned. Perhaps our over-sized homes, with their over-sized mortgages, covers up our feelings of being inadequate in providing shelter for our families. Maybe the constant search for information and higher education is a veil to cover our fear of not being prepared or understanding what is meant by living a good life? The clothes of constant busyness and chronic "Busy Bee " syndrome is perhaps to hide our insecure selves from a world that determines our importance based on our calendars. Cars, titles, recreation choices, media, technology, work, and relationships, although each have inherent utility, can be a version of "grown-up dress-up" that allows us to cover-up our fear of inadequacy. 

Today, be like David. Accept how God made you. Know that He made you exactly the way He intended, and His intentions unveil purpose and meaning. Tiny David slayed the Giant, and he did it in shepherd's clothing and faith in God's design. What God has made is not broken, nor inferior, but useful as is. David slayed the giant "as is", and the giant succumbed to God's original design.

Father, today, help me to accept the way you created me. I do not need to dress-up or cover-up any self-imposed deficiency or inadequacy. What you have created is useful "as is". Help me, like David, to move out into the world and slay the giants you have  placed before me. Today, I come to you "as is".