What Defines You?

The Old Testament reading that we are working with this Sunday is I Samuel 1:4-20. As I read and reread this Scripture, what stands out to me is that Hannah is a woman defined, both by herself, her opponent (Elkanah’s less favored wife, Peninnah) and Jewish society at large. Hannah’s label, or definition, was that of ‘Barren One’; her inability to conceive was a label that was cruelly applied to Hannah, and what a cutting label it was! It reminded her of what she lacked, and could not have; it reminded others that she could not provide a proper family for Elkanah. For Hannah, nothing else mattered—not her many positive qualities, not the great love that her husband had for her; all that mattered to Hannah was that she was barren. It was a label given by society, and one that she took willingly upon herself.

I wonder if we are all like Hannah, in our own way. We all have flaws, secret sins past failures, that we allow to define us, sometimes for life. We allow ourselves to be pigeonholed by what we lack, or by our greatest weaknesses; rather than seeing ourselves as God sees us, as men and women created in His image, we see a label that we often allow to be thrust upon ourselves.

We will never be happy until we are willing to let go of what defines us. Hannah needed to accept that Elkanah loved her for simply being Hannah, and did not hold her barrenness against her. She needed to accept that she was so much more than a person who could or could not conceive, and see herself as a person uniquely created by God, with unique talents, strengths and skills. We, too, need to realize this, moving out of our preconceived ideas of who we are into the fullness of who God desires us to be.

I close with some a scene from the move Rudolf the Rednose Reindeer, truly one of the most theological movies of our time. Rudolf is a misfit, and doesn’t fit in with the other reindeers; he is defined by his nose. As the movie progresses, Rudolf becomes friends with Hermey, an elf that desires to be a dentist, and who is defined by his odd career choice (odd, at least, for an elf). Rudolf also makes friends with Yukon Cornelius, a reckless adventurer who doesn’t fit in with ‘regular’ society. Over the course of their adventures, the three friends end up on the island of misfit toys. All of the toys here are defective in some way: a Charlie in the Box, instead of a Jack in the Box; an elephant with bright spots; a toy bird, which swims instead of flying; a ‘dolly for Sue’, which suffers from depression; and many others. Each toy (and character) is defined by their abnormality; in the end, however, they all rise above their labels, and Santa is able to find a home for all of the misfit toys.

We are all like misfit toys. Sure, we come with flaws, warts and defects. Certainly, we’re not perfect. In God’s eyes, however, we are something special. We are not misfits, but rather, misunderstood, being unable to see that, in God’s eyes, we are diamonds in the rough, that God can, and does, shape into perfect, scintillating jewels.

You are so much more than a mere label.