Rudolph

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is probably the most popular children's Christmas carol ever.  But, have you ever truly checked out the story this song tells?  

So, here's this outcast sleigh puller.  He's born with some sort of weird thing going on with the electric pulses that move through his nervous system.  It seems they back up extra current to his nose causing it to light up "like a light bulb".  I had an uncle with a red bulbous nose but that was from all the booze.  Rudolph's has a more natural cause.  Well, anyway, all Rudolph's classmates think he's a real weirdo because he's not equipped like the other typical folks around his hood.  The other hoofed helicopters laugh at him and call him names (like Pinocchio).  They wouldn't even let him play Monopoly with them.

All this rejection gets ole Rudy down and he feels like some sort of failure due to all of the rejection when, right at his lowest point, who else but Santa himself asks Rudy to lead the way through a fog storm that otherwise would have made a disaster of the big guys Christmas Eve travel arrangements.  His unique abnormality impacted the world in an awesome way that night.  

You see, Rudolph was different for sure, but, he was made perfectly different for the purpose that God had in store for him.  In some way, all of us have felt like a Rudolph did at the beginning of the song at one time or another.  Everyone has had something they've tried to hide because it made them feel inadequate, or they were afraid of being rejected.  I know for me, I would always catch a bunch of slack from my teachers for "over-analyzing" things.  I was the kid that when given the written math problem about two trains leaving the station and what time each would arrive, would drive the teacher nuts at how more information was needed because one loaded heavier might take longer to get to top speed and a less trained driver might not make as quick of time.  My teachers hated me.  I wouldn't try to be a pain, but, couldn't stand not having all the information or knowing all variances weren't looked into completely.  Now, I've realized that God put that into me so that I can find things that others sometimes can't.  It helps when I'm consulting a client about what advertising options are best for them, or when I'm showing someone how scripture written thousands of years ago can pertain to their life today.

What is it about you that has made you feel like a Rudolph?  What is unique about you that others have thought was strange?  Listen to the song now and think of how can you use your shiny nose for a world changing purpose that God has implanted in your heart?  When you find that, you'll begin to feel like the Rudolph at the end of the song rather than the one at the beginning.  I know I did.

JC