Being diffenerent makes all the difference.

This is April.  This is south Texas.  Why is there a mound of packed snow sitting on pebbled rocks in the middle of the day?  Something is amiss.  This pile of frozen ice is out of place, off kilter.  I pass by this peculiar sight every Sunday.  It is discarded ice from the skating rink at the Ice & Golf Center where we hold worship services.  The Zamboni scrapes the excess ice from the rink and discards the shaved ice behind the building.  It looks pretty much useless once it’s outside. Appearances can be deceiving.   Under the pebbles, beneath the ice, the grass is always green?  The rest of San Antonio may be in the midst of a drought but that one area covered with stacked ice provides a sustained flow of water to the ground beneath.  There is growth emanating from what was first thought strange and odd.

1 Peter 2:9-12

⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;

¹⁰ Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

¹¹ Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

¹² Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

 

As Believers, we appear out of place to the unsaved.  People pass by and figure we are a peculiar people.  Some would say we are useless, aliens living countercultural lives, making unusual choices.  We have been set apart, scraped up and set outside the building.  At first glance, we may seem worthless but upon further inspection the work we do becomes evident.  Yes, we are different and at times we are ostracized but God places us where our presence stimulates growth.  We are where we need to be. Be the difference wherever God places you.  He makes the spectacle, spectacular!