Different Stokes for Different Folks

by Kay Heitsch

Isn't it interesting how people are? I've been a 'people watcher' my whole life. I'm fascinated by people.

Since we are all unique, and no two of us are exactly alike, it's funny how people seem to want to be like other people. Or they want other people to be like them.

I've felt that I was quite accepting of others. Long before it was 'cool' to have friends of other races, I did. Some people didn't like this about me, but I didn't care. I went out of my way to accept people who were not like other people too.

When I became a Christian I noticed that not all people come into a relationship with the Lord the same way. I was introduced to Jesus Christ through reading books by Norman V. Peale. Dr. Peale's books showed what a personal relationship with the Lord looked like. I wanted to live my life in this relationship.Other people I know have been introduced to the Lord though Billy Graham, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Charles Stanley, or some other Christian.

Since we are not all alike I've noticed how God uses different types of people with totally different styles to bring people into a personal relationship with Him.

It's not about "religion" or denomination for me, but about a personal relationship with the Lord that matters. How or by whom we are introduced to Him doesn't matter. We are all unique and God uses different people in different ways.

I'm very thankful that Dr Peale was for people like me. God used his unique style to speak to my heart. Not everyone liked Dr. Peale. I was sternly criticized by other Christians. This made me very sad, but I knew that my life was changed after Dr. Peale introduced me to the Lord. It hurt to have Christians think this way about Dr. Peale and me, but I knew my heart. I knew how my thinking and life had changed. Only the Lord, through a personal relationship with Him, could have done this.

Different stokes for different folks has been a phase that has helped me be more accepting of the way God uses people. I may not understand why some people don't like who I like, but that's okay. Because different stokes for different folks.