God is in the details, but when I am getting ready for work in the morning and rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off, I can hardly see my way into praying over my wardrobe. Yet, I've been pausing to pray over my clothing decisions this week, and what interesting results I have experienced!
The women's Bible study leader at my church is ministering over Barbara L. Roose's Beautiful Already. Roose writes, "God pays attention to the big details of the universe as well as the fine details of each individual flower in our world" (63). She cites Matthew 6:30:
"And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?"
I am quick to call on God for help with the mountain-moving problems, but I don't usually think of calling on God for such...well... trivial details of my life. Yet, as I talked with my Bible study gal pals, we unanimously agreed that we labor over wardrobe decisions on the daily.
Our leader offered a "nugget" of wisdom, as she calls it (I love that!): Pray over your wardrobe; let God guide your decision.
Huh.
So, the next morning, I decided to try it. I stood in front of my closet door asking God what I should wear. Then, I opened my eyes and reached for the handle. I quickly snapped my eyes shut and admitted to God, "Wait--I'm not ready. We need to work out some details because I'm not good at listening for your still-small voice. How are we going to do this? Should I just grab the first thing my eyes go to? Or is something just going to fly out at me?"
My closet is packed. When I do laundry, I'm never sure about how I'm going to get stuff back in there. I don't know where all of this stuff came from, but the post office staff all have new vehicles. (Just kidding...a little.) During study, we talked about letting go of clothes we never wear. Let's face it: that kind of decision requires a support group. My closet is full and needs pruning, but I need guidance and support to get it done. (That's a detail I hope God will work on in me, too.) Here's the thing...
I don't have a shoe fetish.
I don't have a purse for every matching outfit.
I don't even match my socks.
I do have my favorite style of tee shirts in every one of my favorite colors.
I do have large, Rubbermaid totes full of sweaters. (I love the cold!)
I have sweatshirts from all over.
And don't get me started on the range of sizes for my blue jeans. (Last I counted there were over 50 pair in 6 sizes. Is that wrong?)
So, here I was praying about what to wear. I opened the closet and grabbed a sweater with a tee shirt I had paired earlier. I pulled on some black slacks I have never been fond of. Not my style choice normally, but I decided to go with it, trusting that God is guiding my decisions.
Then, I stood in front of my jewelry box and shook my head. Here we go again, Lord. Get into my details. I just closed my eyes and reached out. I picked a necklace my mom gave me that I rarely wear. It was sparkly and sat just above the neckline of my sweater. Interesting.
Now, this is the part where God shows out in the details. When I got to work, I had to walk between buildings on campus. (I teach at a college.) My friend, Julie, was wearing capris and a light, long sleeved tee shirt. The temp was around 60 degrees, and she was shivering, teeth chattering. I was fine--perfectly warm in my sweater and comfortable. All day, I sat in my office without the space heater. I didn't notice any of this until my study leader asked me how my day went.
How humbling to realize that God is interested in every detail of my life--down to my clothing decisions! God is in control, but He also gives us free will to make decisions. Asking God to be involved in my daily decisions right down to the details of each thread of clothing I put on took the stress off of my morning decision. Not only that, I felt comfortable in what I was wearing all day!
For reference, here's a pic (me being goofy) wearing my style choice. I won't say I felt like a supermodel, but at 50, my beauty goals have changed from tolerating clothes to look good to finding what comfortable clothes look best (right on; you know who you are!). Sure, I want to be beautiful, but my beauty goals have certainly changed since I was 25.
One thing to note, the shirt under the sweater (which you can't see very well) kept itching my side. It's a goofy thread thing. I'll be "pruning" that item from my wardrobe soon.
I'll be posting more as this journey reveals some things to me. Stay tuned!
Reference: Roose, Barbara L. Beautiful Already: Reclaiming God's Perspective on Beauty. Abingdon Press: Nashville, 2016.
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