Chameleon

I work at a job that requires me to be a chameleon. I have to change my skin based on the situation I am in and the person I am with. Sometimes I need to be silent and work quickly and efficiently. Sometimes I need to speak up, entertain and encourage. Sometimes I must show sympathy, and hold out a helping hand. Other times I need to push, to get someone to stop relying on me and do it on their own.

Jesus lived this way. He was gentle one moment with the contrite sinner come to him for help, and accusing the next with the self-righteous who wanted to trick him. In the Bible there are many, many names for Jesus, because he was a chameleon too. He gave what was needed when it was needed. Like the song by Toby Mac, “Whatever you need from me, I’ll be for you. Whatever I need to be to see you through.”

We have to be ready to change our skin. God requires us to serve others, and serving people requires us to change our skin, like chameleons. You need to learn what is required in every situation with different kinds of people who all have different needs. Know when to tease, and when to stop. Know when to encourage, and when to reprimand. Give what is required in the moment to lift up and to teach, to help the other move closer to God.

As important as it is to give, to serve people by doing and being what they need, it can be tiring, exhausting, completely draining. Sometimes you feel as if your self, the person you really are beneath the changing skin, is shriveling up. Sometimes you just need to get some space, to stick your head in a pillow and scream.

Like all things in life, service is a delicate balancing act. You have to serve yourself, keep yourself sane, or else you won’t be any good to others. Yet at the same time you must efface yourself, set aside what you need, to tend to the person in front of you.

It is tempting, oh so tempting, to throw up your hands and walk away. To give up the balancing act entirely and serve only yourself. You could be free of all of the demands, the pressure. Let someone else do it. But then you find you feel emptier and less yourself than ever before. The act of giving fills and heals our souls. We were made to help others; scientific studies even show that children have a natural instinct to help. We need to serve, which is why we are made with the ability to be chameleons.

A shifting skin and a secure core, the ability to be all things in all situations, and hold tight to the anchor that keeps my heart on track. I continue to fail over and over again at this balancing act, but I won’t quit. The rewards are far too great to just let go, and I have enough grace from friends, family and Savior to see me through to the end.