BLUE SUIT SYNDROME
I used to rent the rooms out in my house, and one of the renters had a shiny, solid blue bodysuit, (kind of like Spiderman’s suit without the mask,) that he would wear to bed. However, he would oftentimes walk around the house for a few hours before bed sporting the skin-tight suit that left absolutely NOTHING to the imagination. It was a bit odd… and honestly, a bit embarrassing. Though HE didn’t seem embarrassed at all, everyone else was.
I think about that blue suit a lot. See… we all wear one. The “Blue Suit” is our brokenness. Our hurts. Our failures. Our insecurities. Our weaknesses. And while we all wear one, we (or at least most of us,) don’t want anyone else to know we wear one.
Amazingly, we can immediately spot other’s who are wearing the same (or similar) suit as us. In fact, these people are like sandpaper to us - they irritate us, and again, oftentimes we’re not even aware as to WHY.
The reason, is we’re desperately ashamed of our weaknesses and failures and insecurities… and we’re terrified that someone is going to find out we’re wearing a blue suit. So… when we see someone else in a blue suit we point out THEIR blue suit, in an attempt to take the focus of OURS! In our MOST self-righteous voice we say, “Oh my… look at that blue suit! They’re wearing a blue suit! Do you see THEIR blue suit?! I would NEVER wear a suit like that!!” When in actuality we’re wearing the same blue suit… it’s just a different size and maybe more of a periwinkle than a blue.
(We see this in politics ALL the time - each side pointing out the faults in the other side, to try to take the attention off THEIR faults! BLUE SUIT SYNDROME!!)
Let me give you an example. I have a friend who is addicted to video games. Literally. She plays them probably 12 hours a day, and would play them more if she didn’t have to sleep, go to the bathroom, and sometimes work. She oftentimes doesn’t even eat because she’s so consumed with “getting to the next level” or “getting better equipment” or “earning in-game rewards” or whatever.
I have another friend who is an absolute workaholic. He works 12-16 hours a day nearly every day of the week. He also skips meals frequently and is completely consumed with whatever project he’s currently working on.
My friends know each other… and, you guessed it…they can’t stand each other. They can’t be in the same room for more than a few moments before an argument erupts. Or they’ll make comments behind the others back about how “unbalanced” the other person is. I always smile and think, “It’s the Blue Suit Syndrome.”
What I’ve experienced personally is God oftentimes uses the people in my life for MY benefit as well as theirs. When I’m speaking to a friend, whether I’m encouraging them or giving them advice, I frequently hear my words as though someone else is speaking them to ME. And for good reason! Most of the time I need to take my own advice! *laughing*
Over the years God has been (and is still!) teaching me to heed my own advice, especially when its scripturally sound. When I’m being harsh and critical towards someone, He’s teaching me to ask, “How am I that way… if even just a *little* bit? How is their blue suit similar to mine??” For example, let’s just pretend I was one of the friends I spoke of earlier. He would have me ask myself, “How is MY life out of balance?” and then, “What steps can I take to come back into balance again?” If we can’t get an honest answer from ourselves, (oftentimes we can, we just don’t LIKE the answer!) we can ask a trusted friend who will probably tell us the same thing.
God speaks to us in a myriad of ways - whether it’s the “still, small voice” in our hearts, a passage of scripture, a song or poem, an article we just happen to glance at, a friend’s advice, or even in our sickness and/or tragedies. I’m not saying God causes these things, but I do believe He’ll use them for good (Romans 8:28) to reflect our image back to us and show us, we’re still wearing a blue suit.
Even if it’s more of a periwinkle than a blue. *wink*
SCRIPTURES
Romans 8:28 ~ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (NLT)