NEW NORMAL
Where I work as a receptionist, there are some “interesting” characters we see from time to time, on the sidewalks in front of our building. One lady would just holler at some imaginary person. One day she actually poured salt all over her head. Was she trying to get rid of some evil spirit or was that some type of strange thoughts in her head that she wanted to do? She would come into our practice and ask for free cat litter. Did she have an imaginary cat or a real one? We never found out. We have not seen her for awhile so we hope she found some help to quench the unsettling thoughts she had. This week, we saw another lady, who was on the sidewalk across the street, doing an exercise routine. We thought that was part of her walk she took every day. But when she started walking on an imaginary balance beam and talking to the bench, we knew that was not the case. She would take out running down the sidewalk screaming at the top of her lungs like she was in some type of race. Both of these women, thought what they were doing is normal. Those of us watching her, were not for sure.
What is the meaning of normal? Webster’s dictionary defines normal & norm as: “sound in mind or body-of average intelligence-a set of standard development or achievement derived from the actions of a large group of people.” From that definition, maybe what is normal to me is not normal toyou! Normal comes from the same regular actions of a group of people. We each give a different meaning to normal. I have a normal routine I do in the morning when I am getting up. I do the same thing over and over. At work, we have changed the way we clock in and out. We use to do it on our phones and now we clock in from one of the computers. So, I have forgotten to clock in, because when I get up front, I might have to start helping someone and forget that I am not actually clocked in on the time clock. I have had to change my normal routine to accommodate the changes that have been made at work. I have had to start a new normal.
We all agree that the actions of the two women I just talked about, are not normal. They were living in their normal of what their thoughts were telling them to do. We feel that we want to help people like that to transform them to the normal thought patterns that we have. My boys when they were little, had transformers. I am sure most of you who have children, know exactly what I am talking about. The toy that, when moved around, would take a different shape and be transformed into something else. When we chose to follow God, we have to transform, change, our minds and actions away from the sinful, worldly actions that we were or did before we made the choice to follow God. The Bible talks about this in 2 Corinthians 3:18. “But we all with unveiled face, beholding as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed in the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” As believers behold the glory ofthe Lord, by reading the scriptures, we become transformed or changed to strive to be more like Jesus. Of course, we will never be like Jesus who was perfect, but we should strive to be better and more like Him in all we do.
Another scripture is in Romans 12:1-5, reads “I beseech you, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace give to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
These verses tell me that we should strive everyday to serve and obey God. In the last set of verses: holy means-set apart for the Lord’s use; acceptable means-pleasing to God; reasonable means-God has given us so many gifts, and the normal reaction to this is to serve Him. A person who is conformed to this world, follows other people to do evil or follows every person that is different to believe what they believe. They mold their lives to not think for themselves and they do not stand against what the devil throws at us each and every day. Instead of following the values of this world, the believer should be transformed or changed away from those values. This transformation begins in the mind and heart. We have to change. A mind that is dedicated to do the things of this world, will only produce a life of a person who follows everything others tell them to do and will be tossed around in the culture they live in. But when we transform our minds, to dedication to our God, we can stand against all the trials we might face in this earthly life. We have the center of our lives-God. These verses also, compare the many members of our physical body like the-foot-hand-eyes, to the fact that we as individuals are not all the same. We have our own personalities. Our own talents. Our own purpose. God created each one of us unique, to fulfil His purposes for our lives. It would be very boring in deed if in this world we all were the same. Throughout time, God has shown how He has used certain personalities for certain purposes. In the Old Testament, there are many different personalities that fulfilled different purposes. Job-David-Joseph-Esther-Hannah and so many more. If you are not familiar with these I mentioned, search in your Bible to see how God used them to fulfill a certain purpose.
What is normal for one person is not normal for another. When my husband passed away, everything changed in my world. My physical life became totally different. I felt a type of confusion-a type of not knowing how to go ahead into the unknown future. At the time, I was writing for another woman’s website and talked about my husband’s death and how everything had changed. I got a response from one lady, that I will never forget, who said I had to find a new normal. The normal I was use to living, had changed or transformed. I had another direction for my life, that I had to make choices and follow. It took me a while to understand what my new normal was, but I realized that different seasons of our lives our normal might change here on earth. But our spiritual normal needs to keep growing and might take us to different challenges given us by God. For instance, in my life, the two books I have published and the blog I have started.
Each one of us has a normal life we live. But if we are following the world, then we need to understand and change that normal. We need to transform into what God wants us to have as our normal. I have always enjoyed going to venues where Patsy Clairmont was and reading her many books. One of them is called “Normal is Just a Setting on your Dryer.” There are so many settings we could use. Some are for delicate items. Some are for heavy loads. Some are for wrinkle release. I know that I use the permanent press & the normal setting most often. Just like the different settings on the dryer, we all are different. We look different, we act different. We are all in different seasons of our lives and may have had to find a new normal. Are we normal? Well, I like to think I am. But, of course, that is my viewpoint.
The two women I talked about at the beginning, did not seem to have normal behavior in our definition of normal. This physical life presents many challenges and changes. We need to transform our thinking and actions towards the Lord. He is the only one who can help us find our normal in this world.
Maybe you feel like you need to find a new normal in your life, because things have changed. Maybe you have been letting your normal be the same as the worlds. You have let the world define what normal is-conformed your thinking. Maybe you are trying to find what your new normal is after a tragedy in your life. If you are stuck in the normal of this world, reach out to God for a new normal. God can help you transform away from the world. We just have to reach out to Him. So, the only kind of new normal that is truly acceptable to God, is one of following His word and obeying His commands. When happenings of this world change your normal, reach out to God. He is always there! Stop conforming to this world’s definition of normal. Transform your thoughts and life to a new normal of living for God!
So, the question is: are you normal?
Till next time! Keela
