Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in? Or that it’s hard to fit in? You know, there is a reason for this. It’s because you aren’t normal. I have always grown up a little strange. I had a crazy childhood and my teenage years weren’t any better but I remember even as a small child I found myself not fitting in with the rest of the crowd. It wasn’t cause of my family but it was cause of me. I remember whenever I would do something stupid or funny my mother would always tell me “You’re not normal” or “Normal people don’t do that”. For years I laughed at this statement. It became a joke in my family. What my mother didn’t realize is that she was speaking truth when she made those statements. I am not normal. I don’t want to be normal. I wasn’t created normal … and neither were you.

What is normal, anyway? Is it bad to be “not normal?” I went and looked up the word normal online and Dictionary.com defines normal as “conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.” That is not me at all. I fit more into the abnormal definition which is “not normal, average, typical, or usual; deviating from a standard”. Which of those definitions sounds like you? For me, I am sooooooooooooo not normal.

In Matthew 5:14-16 we read “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!” You are a light in darkness. You are different than everything else around you. You’re not part of the norm. You’re not normal.

Now I have seen many people use this scripture to enforce “holiness” standards in peoples lives. I use to attend a church a few years ago that regulated your life even to the point of saying what you should and should not wear according to old testament customs. They said that people should be able to look at you and know that you are different without you even having to say a word. I believe that’s true to some extent but at the same time … people look at me today and know that I am different without me saying anything. It’s in how I carry myself, how I smile at people, my facial expressions, my care and concern for others, and the anointing that covers my life.

That reminds me of a situation that took place this past summer. Please note that me sharing this with you isn’t to boast of myself nor anyone else that was with me. A friend and I had just left a conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We had about two hours of free time to go get something to eat before the next sessions started so we decided to walk down the street to the mall and grab something quick. On our way there we had something very unique happen. We were crossing a street and another guy was coming towards us. He was glaring at us. Then as he got closer he got vocal shouting “I would rather be poor and dead than to be called a Christian”. We didn’t say a word to this guy. As a matter of fact we barely even looked at him. Obviously there was more going on in the spirit realm than what meets the general eye but goes to show that even the anointing on our life is visible to those around us. Many people even try to hide and try to be “Normal” but once you are filled with God’s presence and His anointing there is no hiding. The world can tell you are special.

When we accepted God into our lives we became unique. We became the minority according to the Word. We became remarkable because of who is in us. Not only that, but if you really want to get “technical” we have NEVER been normal. Everything that God has ever created has been different. Our DNA is completely different, the number of hairs on our heads are different, every snowflake that falls from the sky is different. Even our finger prints are different. God created us different. Stop trying to be normal.

Seth Godin wrote a book called the “Purple Cow”. The book was written for those involved in the corporate world but it talked about being “Remarkable & Unique”. He tells the story about his family driving through France a few years ago and how they were enchanted by hundreds of storybook cows grazing in the fields. He and his family were captivated by the remarkable scene but 20 minutes later … the cows became boring. They became common.

We aren’t common. 1 Peter 2:9-10 tells us “You are chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy person, you are God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for Him. To tell others of the night and day difference He has made for you – from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.”

A great minister of the Word recently said “God isn’t going to use your life because you’re just like everyone else. The thing that makes you unique is the thing that makes you powerful.”

God made you unique. He made you as a light on a hill in the midst of darkness. He made you stand out. You’re not normal. You are peculiar. Don’t try to conform to this world or to everyone around you. Always be you! Always be unique.