DAY 35 - OUTFIT CHANGE
ZACH ATWOOD, YA EVENTS & OPERATIONS TEAM LEAD
We all have that one piece of clothing that can turn your day around and, let’s be real, it makes you feel like a snack. You could have had the worst day ever: you failed the test you didn’t even know existed, your car died and the tire popped, your IG got hacked and sent your mom spam messages about cheap Ray-Bans... but no matter what happened, you throw on that (insert item info here), and, “Dang, I look good. I feel good. This day ain’t so bad after all!”
For me, it was a pair of True Religion jeans I got from The Buckle in 7th grade. The ones with the heavily-stitched white piping work on ever seam, the oversized belt loops that could fit a WWF Championship belt, and the 834 button enclosures instead of a zipper (cause that’s not annoying…) I would throw those bad boys on and the 7th-grade hallway better lookout. I’m coming in hot.
Jokes aside, clothes are so closely tied to emotions and allow us to tell a story without any actual verbal expression. We are able to show people who we are and give some insight into what we may be going through.
Fun examples: You’re getting married? Wear that white dress. Derby Party? Grab that big hat. First day of work or school? Better wear your freshest outfit.
Not-so-fun examples: Surgery or medical testing? Those open-backed fashion gowns. Funeral? All-black everything. An international pandemic that has no end in sight? The same sweatpants and hoodie, forever.
Back in the pre-Jesus-heyday, people would also have dress codes. They had different rules on what you could wear to the temple, how you could wear your hair, jewelry and accessory regulations, what the religious leaders should wear during ceremonies, etc. One of their outfit choices was to wear sackcloth during mourning ceremonies. Yep. That’s as sad as it sounds.
Mourning ceremonies allowed the people to fully express their grief over losing something or someone while allowing the mourners to slowly adjust to their new way of life. Wearing sackcloth was a way to show the others that they were grieving without having to talk about it. It’s similar to how we wear black and other dark colors to funerals. We can show our sadness and tell our story without having to verbally express it.
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” Psalm 30:11
Mourning and grief are real and God wants us to process those emotions, but it’s not where He wants us to stay. God wants to take the grief and sadness in our life and exchanges it for joyful dancing (I’m adding joyful here because I dare you to angry dance, #NotPossible), but I love the next part of the verse, “...you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.”
It doesn’t say “...you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with what I really wanted,” “...you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with that dream job,” or “...you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with a new girlfriend/boyfriend.” He exchanges the physical sackcloth (the dress code for mourning) and He provides us with the emotion of gladness. Our God is not in the business of placing us into our ideal setting, but He is in the business of changing our mindset while we are in the mourning!
What if rather than asking God to take us out of mourning, we ask Him to change our mindset? Rather than asking for the white dress, we ask for joy? Rather than asking for the new business suit, we ask for cheerfulness? Rather than asking to leave the mourning ceremony, we ask for gladness?
Your situation may not change and your grief will still be there, but your heart will shift from the gladness He provides. Heck, you may become so joyful you’ll start dancing.