Judged by the Masses

The other day, I realized something.
Whenever God calls us to step out in faith on something, no matter what it is, we tend to get that slightly panicked feeling.
"Oh no, God, I can't do that. People will look at me weird!"
"Yes, Lord, I understand that you want me to tell so-and-so that, but what if he gets offended?"
"God, I am not touching that microphone! Do you see how many people are in here?!"
Whatever it is, our first reaction is to step back, like Moses, and say "God, you can't be serious." We don't like to be different. It's a scary thing for us to stand out because our culture has told us that we ought to 'go with the flow', along with other debilitating lies.
So when He comissions us to move into that new conviction of that fresh word, we're terrified.
I can remember when wearing only skirts became a conviction for me. It was roughly around a year and a half ago that I started wearing skirts full time (though I can't pin an exact date). When people began to notice that I'd stopped wearing jeans, naturally they started asking questions.
I think Bridgette was the first to really say something about it. We were at Small Groups on Sunday night and we were talking about different styles of clothing when she noticed I was wearing a skirt again.
"So is wearing a skirt, like, your thing now?" she asked.
It was an innocent question and a perfectly good one, but I remember my heart beating ninety miles an hour before I bothered answering with "Yeah, I guess."
Looking back, it seems kinda silly. I can now answer peoples' questions on the subject when they ask about it. Though, I often get myself tongue tied (apparently, my articulating skills are limited to the written word). It's not really a big deal. I've had a few try to argue with me on why jeans are just as modest as skirts, but mostly people support me on my conviction.
What was I so afraid of??
Our culture tells us it's a very bad thing to stand out. It furthers Satans' agenda to have us believe it, too, so he tries to pour it into all he can manage. He tells us that if we're not the same as everyone else, then we'll be shunned, ridiculed, and thought of as prudes and self-righteous jerks.
Don't listen to him! We don't live by the world's standards. We're called to live by Yahweh's standards and His alone. So go to His word, seek out his instruction above all else on every matter. Don't let our culture (or even the church!) continue to spoon-feed you what they think you should know and believe. Search out the Scriptures for yourself. Stand on His Word, and His Word alone.
Have a blessed day!