I was given a letter last week thanking me for my unique and eccentric personality and friendship. In my mind, eccentric has always leaned pretty close in to “weird”. Hmmmmmmmmmm….
There are many times when I think of myself as strange – not quite seeing things the way most people do. Most of the time I’m okay with being a little off center. But sometimes it’s a lonely place. A place where you feel misunderstood or at the very least, not understood.
It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just strangers who didn’t get us, would it? Unfortunately, most of the time it’s the people we know best and love most that can’t seem to get behind our eyes to see our perspective or inside our hearts to experience our emotions.
Sometimes it’s because we don’t open up and share it. Other times it’s because they don’t take the time to stop and make the effort. But whatever the reason, we are left feeling alone and misunderstood.
What I love about Jesus is that He doesn’t allow us to experience anything here on earth that He hasn’t already experienced. That’s why He can walk us through it so well. Because He’s been in our shoes.
Was Jesus misunderstood? Well, let’s see…
His own brothers didn’t know who He was…John 7:5
His closest friends and followers took three years to get their heads around the fact that He was who He said He was – God…John 20:29
The religious leaders accused Him of being a heretic…John 5:18
The people who had the power to free Him or hang Him chose to believe He was a criminal and hang Him as one…Matthew 27:20
Uh, yeah. I’d say He gets being misunderstood.
When I feel misunderstood, my first inclination is to hibernate, to be alone. And I think that for a time that can be a good thing. Jesus had times when He went off to spend time alone in prayer. With the One Who knew and understood Him completely. It was His time of refueling before heading back into a crowd of people who would never really “get” Him.
Where I struggle is going off to my quiet place to process things with God and getting stuck in the solitude. Jesus meets me there, works through the muck with me and then says, “Okay, let’s go out and love some people.” And many times I find myself saying, “Can’t I just stay here and love YOU? This place where I am completely and thoroughly loved and understood? Please?” And I know by that smile that He’s saying, “You ARE loving me when you go out and love all these people.” Then I sigh deeply and dramatically for effect and pull up my boot straps and go do it, remembering that I’m not doing it alone.
I will be misunderstood again today. So will you, most likely. But I’m pretty sure Jesus got called eccentric more than once. Isn’t it great to know that we walk hand in hand with One who knows what it’s like? And at the end of the day, we can go that place, alone with Him, and process all of it. A time of refreshment and encouragement before we head back out there and face it again…
