Asking God What to Wear
I’ll never forget sitting in Sarah’s Honda Accord in the parking lot of my apartment complex when we told me that she asks the Lord what she should wear each morning. She was bringing me home after a volunteer shift we did together and I didn’t know her all that well yet except that she was a Christian who loved God very much. We were talking about the power of prayer, which I was newly learning in my faith walk, and she dropped the bomb that she prayed ALL THE TIME. “All the time?” I confirmed. “What does that even mean?” “I just talk to God. I even ask him what I should wear each morning.”
I didn’t know Sarah all that well and this pronouncement didn’t draw me in to want to know her more, but instead it helped me to put her into the category labeled “crazy people” in my mind. I judged her. I wanted to pull back. I thought it was most certainly that was the craziest thing I had ever heard.
Why would the God of the universe care what she was going to wear?
Not one to mince words, I asked her the same question. “Oh, I don’t think He cares what I wear. Not like there is a good outfit or a bad one, but I ask him more like I would ask a friend. I just love talking to him all the time, like we are friends hanging out. If my friend was over and sitting on my bed, I might ask her which of the two outfits I like she thought I should wear, right? I just do that…with God. Like we are best friends.”
She didn’t leave the “crazy people” box in my mind, but I did get a bit more intrigued. I said my goodbyes and continued to turn this around in my mind. Why would the God of the universe want to hear what I am wearing that day? Doesn’t he have more important things to do? Wars, famines, deaths, abuse, murders, all kinds of evil….and you are asking him what to WEAR? Seems crazy. Maybe self-absorbed. Definitely not faith. That isn’t what faith looks like, is it Lord? Asking you what I should wear each day?
God doesn’t care what you or I wear each day, but I have come to believe that he wants to be our friend just as much as he wants to be the God of our universe. What this conversation with Sarah really showed me was not just her faith, but her heart position toward God.
Today I think about asking God what I should wear. I don’t do it every day, but on the days I do, I notice a interesting change in my heart. It is surrendered. When I am starting my day by asking God what to wear, I am saying to him, “I trust you with everything in my day.” From what I wear to what I get done. I release my opinions (not that they are bad) and my control (which is really just an illusion of control anyway) and I am letting go. From the smallest decision like what to wear to the big ones. And I am not just surrendering control and my opinions but in asking God what I should wear, I am trusting God to be God to me…AND I am also trusting him to be my friend. This one simple act is revolutionary. I am trusting that God is bigger than me and can see the future of my day, and that knowledge He has just might come in handy when I am selecting my outfit. (Will it be windy there and a skirt might not be the best choice?) I am also trusting God to be my friend…that God is a God who cares about me enough to know I hate being cold.
That was 16 years ago and I still think about that conversation all the time. What I didn’t know then that I know now, is that Sarah had far more faith then my 28 year old self could wrap my head around at the time.
What about you? Do you trust God enough to surrender to Him? Not just the big life changes like a new job or if you should get married to that guy, but in the little things too? The daily things? Do you trust him as your God AND as your friend? Do you ask God what to wear each day?
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Lord God, you are so wonderful, kind, gentle and patient with me. I have known your love and your care. Surrendering the big stuff like job changes and school changes and health decisions is hard enough, but the little stuff? Oh lord, somehow that is so much harder to give the little stuff to you. To really surrender it all. Lord God, help me have a heart and a desire to surrender to you. Help me learn how to surrender to you. And lord, help me indeed surrender it all to you. I want to live a life surrendered, I do. Even though it is terrifying, it is also exciting. I know that surrendering will help me trust you more and more. Lord, I know you are so kind and gentle and loving, so please be patient with me as I learn to surrender one thing at a time. What do you want me to surrender to you today lord? I am here, I am listening. I want you to be lord over all of my life. Help me surrender my day to you today. To trust the little details, from what I wear, to what I get done, to who interrupts me and my list doing, because they need a friend. I trust you with it all. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
