16 Drums

DAY 2

“That girl marches to the beat of her own drum.”

Rhythm has always been a challenge for me. I love it, but I don’t have it. (Just ask that sweet older gentleman who doggedly tried to teach me to salsa dance at an event in college. He’s probably still recovering, poor guy.)

As rough a go as I’ve had at swaying to the actual beat everyone else hears, I fit snugly behind a certain thrum of personality. I mean, according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), there are sixteen to choose from, so probably whichever is the most awkward is the cadence I can follow to glory. (It turns out that, like Hermione, I’m a solid ISTJ. We might not be able to break it down on the dance floor, but we will dependably analyze everything while partying with books til the sun comes up.)

Simultaneously one of the most basic and revealing aspects of self-awareness is figuring out how God wired your personality. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you tend to be more observant or intuitive? Would close friends consider you a thinker or a feeler? Does judging or perceiving come more easily to you? There are no right or wrong answers here (unless you responded “chicken” to any of the options, in which case, we might need to get you some help). A truth that will keep popping up along our journey is that you were designed on purpose, with purpose, for a purpose.

Today’s post is meant to be a little short—I wanted to give you time to explore which drummer you dance to most naturally. So if you don’t know where you fall on the MBTI, hop on over to 16personalities.com and take the free test. Then read more in depth about your type: the website includes covering how people like you tend to engage in romantic relationships, friendships, parenthood, career paths, and workplace habits, along with a helpful rundown of strengths and weaknesses unique to each personality. If you’re wondering how these people understand you so creepily well, you did it right.

A couple of notes: answer according to what is true of you rather than what you wish you were like. The test is only as helpful as it is realistic. Also, no matter how accurate you are in your responses, God created humanity with bazillions of one-of-a-kind traits, so the personality type results you end up with might not fit you in every single thing ever. My hope is that you walk away from this exercise with a more vibrant appreciation for the detail and intention the Lord poured into your being when He formed you in your mother’s womb. And that maybe you find encouragement in recognizing there are other individuals on this planet who are exactly your brand of weird.

In the middle of this discovery process, be careful of the tendency to identify so much with your wiring that you become a slave to it. Remember? Nothing affects the core of who you are other than the fact that God is your Father. If we can hold onto that, we’re free to cooperate with the Spirit in more fully inhabiting the beautiful parts of our personality and in warring against the broken bits of it. Paul reminds us that “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). As we grow more and more to look like Jesus, we begin looking more like ourselves at the same time.