In the early nineteenth century, the word ‘misfit’ meant “a garment that fits badly,” but by the end of the 1800s it had come to primarily mean “outcast” or “oddball.” An example of a misfit is… the weird kid at school who no one will talk to because he is a little bit odd. Friends when I immigrated to Australia with my mother (aged 4) in 1953, that “weird kid” was me. From the outset, I was made to feel odd by my new homeland!

My olive complexion, jet-black hair, strange surname, inability to communicate one word in English, and dressed by my mother in a suit was more than enough to ensure that I would not be a harmonious-fit at a prep-school of white, purebred Ozzie kids. For years I was an object of laughter, ridicule, bullying and rejection. How hard was it for me? There was a time when I came close to seriously harming myself. Friends, no person (child or adult) should be exposed to such cruelty.

For me, the need to survive was instinctive. I found myself making every adjustment necessary in order to blend-in to gain approval and acceptance by my peers. I was even ashamed of my Lebanese heritage that disadvantaged me. Eventually, after the passage of eight years I was able to fit-in and gain acceptance. But hey, my social standing got even better! A number of years later, through natural ability on the rugby football field I was promoted by my peers to the coveted status of ‘best mate’. I went on to captain my team and later represented my state on two occasions… Yes, you could say I was ‘living the dream!’

However, the dream was short-lived… it lasted until the day I surrendered my life to Christ. From that moment the Holy Spirit began to work at transforming me, inside-out, into the likeness of Jesus (Rom. 8:29). The changes in my life were such that one day my wife said to me, “You’re changing! I like what I see. I would like to go to church with you.” (Twelve months later as the changes continued to take place in my life my wife decided to surrender her life to Jesus!)

As my life continued to change through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, I found myself once again becoming a misfit in the world in which I lived. It wasn’t long before my contemporaries stripped me of my ‘best mate’ status and blacklisted me as an extremely odd weirdo! I was no longer living the dream.

(Concluding Part 2 next week.)

Best wishes,
Bill