Rays of Light

Years ago, I joked about forming an Odd Duck Society. I wasn’t really serious, and I probably would’ve had trouble rounding up members anyway. Just about everyone I knew back then seemed to be “normal” whatever that is. I, on the other hand, never quite seemed to find other birds of a feather to flock with.

As a person of faith, it never bothered me that I was an oddity to those who weren’t. That is too be expected. The rejection I felt from other believers, though, hurt deeply. I found myself denounced more times than I could count because of my zeal and outspokenness in defense of God‘s word.

This used to really bother me. In fact, it was only about eight years ago that I began to accept the reality that being an “odd duck” was really okay. I had been meditating the passage of scripture that says we are a peculiar people; that we should show forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light ” (1 Peter 2:9).

Peculiar. I thought, how much more peculiar can one person be? That shoe certainly fit my big foot, so I didn’t mind wearing it. God had assuredly called me out of darkness, but it was that darkness in which I was raised, that caused me to be so peculiar. Because God had delivered me from such misery and showed me such overwhelming love and goodness, I could be nothing less than passionate about His word.

I truly longed to be peculiar, in the biblical sense anyway. Yet, I could not even begin to understand why my intensity bothered other believers so much. I hadn’t wanted to be an offense to others, so I prayed and asked the Lord to please change me so I could be of more use to Him.

He answered by reminding me of several people whose lives were recorded in scripture. The names are too numerous to recount here, but they all loved God and served Him wholeheartedly. And they too, faced a great deal of persecution for their zeal – even from those who should have understood. Nevertheless, the lives of those “odd ducks” are still impacting others even today, through the pages of scripture, because they dared to be different.

Have you ever seen one odd duck swimming amongst others? I have. Only days after meditating on that particular scripture, I was watching a flock of plain brown ducks. And I couldn’t help but notice that swimming amongst them was a multi-colored wood duck with all its bright, gorgeous colors glistening in the sun. I marveled that there, in the midst of plainness, was something extraordinary and beautiful.

It struck me, God’s people are supposed to stand out like that too. When others look at our lives, they should see God’s hand at work and marvel.

As I walked nearer to the water, I looked at the ground. There were webbed footprints and feathers everywhere. Most of the feathers were brown, but there, in the midst of them, were a few which were bright teal. I smiled. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out just where that lone, odd duck had been. Even in its absence, a part of its beauty lingered on to be found by others.

I want to be like that; I want others to be able to look at my life and see God’s hand at work. And everywhere I go, I want to leave something of beauty behind as a lasting impression that points people to God.

Call me crazy, but I‘ve decided through the years that being an odd duck can actually be a blessing, and I am not at all ashamed to be one. Perhaps I should still start an Odd Duck Society. I probably wouldn’t even have trouble finding members now. The Lord has blessed me in recent years with many friends and acquaintances that happen to be odd ducks like myself. We may be different, but I gotta tell you, our pond is one happening place!

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