Who would think that God would be concerned with the
clothes that I wear? I drastically changed
my style of clothes, under His guidance, before becoming a Christian in
1983. Now here we are some 30 years
later, and God is still very much concerned about what I wear.
The things I’ve been wearing lately don’t quite fit
anymore. If you’ve ever had clothes that
were too big, you know it’s a lot of work.
While trying to determine an outfit to wear, I heard God speak to my
heart saying, take off the grave clothes.
I thought maybe I was wearing clothes that made it seem as if I had lost
my zest for life or as if I was in mourning.
I recognized that some of the spiritual clothes I had been wearing
weren’t carrying the right spirit.
Mourning or heaviness is not limited to the loss of a
loved one. It could be the loss of a
job, a marriage, or some loss that alters your future with a crippling
capability. I began to see the emotional
garments I’d been wearing and could feel my shoulders begin to slump. I felt the weight of the heaviness in my
heart, the pain of loss, the sorrow I carried around my neck like a yolk on an
oxen and the grief I bore on my chest like a breastplate, and the weight of loneliness
I felt as a saddle on my back.
The bible speaks of several different types of garments;
one was the garment of a deceased person, another of a widow, and the garment
of the priest. Other garments were set
aside by the owners for specific purpose.
Some garments were worn specifically while praising God; others were
worn to seek the face of God.
Scriptures began to come to my mind that dealt with these
issues and I asked God’s help to take off my grave clothes and put on the
garments that pleased Him. I didn’t want
to be like Lazarus who when Jesus called His name he jumped up from death, but
was still bound and gagged.
I saw that garments were already promised to be by the
Lord. He said if I mourned, he would
give me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness, that I would glorify the Lord (Isaiah 61:3). I learned that if I rejoice in Him that my
soul will be joyful in my God because He has covered me with the garments of
salvation; covering me with the robe of righteousness and with ornaments like a
bridegroom and bride adorn themselves with ornaments and jewels.
One of the benefits of the work of Calvary is to give
victory to the believer over life’s situations.
We can overcome the obstacles that come to hinder our mental and
physical progress in God.
If you maybe need to change into some lighter garments,
God has them waiting for you. Join me in
trading my heavy and unfitting garments for the garment of praise. I promise no
longer to be bound but free, to live the abundant life made available through
Calvary.
