Meditation on a Hat Collection

God provides the one hat that
makes it possible for us to wear
all other hats gracefully!

By Alice Shaw

No wonder I was exhausted! It was only 11:30 in the morning and already I had changed hats eight times. I started the day with my wife-and-homemaker hat, putting dishes in the dishwasher and confirming my husband’s dental appointment. Then it was the daughter hat as I called the bank and cared for some of Mother’s business. Next it was my employee hat, as I took rent receipts to the office and consulted with the director of our rental project about the upcoming open house. What about all the little hats I was wearing under that employee hat? Already I had been a mediator, a bookkeeper, a grocery shopper, eyes for the blind, an animal healthcare assessor and now, for a delicate situation, I needed to be a diplomat! (I don’t think I can be a diplomat today, Lord.)

A telephone ring interrupted my thoughts about my hats. It was our pastor hoping I would be able to assist with the Bible study at a local care facility of the elderly. Even though I agreed to do so, I wondered where the extra prep time would come from.

At that moment, the thoughts about my “hat collection” became a meditation of how God looked at my situation. God only expects me to wear one hat; it’s actually a protective hat called the helmet of salvation. Being saved is the best foundation for any duty or multiple duties that I may be called to perform today. The admonition to “take the helmet of salvation,” in Ephesians 6:17, if obeyed, opens the resources of God to make us strong for every duty we have to perform.

The words of Christ himself in 2 Corinthians 12:9 assure us, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” James 1:5 tells me, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” That’s the resource I need for the diplomacy situation facing me.

I read again about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. Now, she really wore a lot of hats—wife, mother, wool and flax spinner, food shopper, cook, manager of family and servants, gardener, worker of a double shift, humanitarian, wardrobe planner and seamstress, and seller of her handiwork. How did she accomplish all that? Verse 30 reveals that she was a woman who feared the Lord. She was wearing her helmet! No doubt she relied upon the strength promised us in Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” The helmet of salvation entitles the wearer to this promise. When we have our helmet on, God will help us with that Bible study or whatever the duty of the day may be.

Women are not alone in this business of changing hats. There are busy men, including many virtuous ones. Their hats may be labeled breadwinner, head of the home, husband, father, plumber, coach, toy train builder, computer teacher, disciplinarian, driving instructor, deacon, Sunday school teacher, comforter, and the list goes on. This helmet will fit man or woman, child or adult. The protection afforded by this helmet is priceless. It protects us from discouragement, hopelessness, wrong choices, boredom, fear, or whatever else would pull us down spiritually. Our part is to wear it at all times—whether with the family of God or out in the secular world.

One might think that because a helmet is protective headgear, it is very heavy. The weight of the helmet of salvation is made up of responsibility. We have a responsibility to the Christ who paid for our salvation with His Blood. We have a responsibility to our children to wear this helmet faithfully. Being faithful to that responsibility puts us in a position to claim our head adornment for eternity. “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

Why should we fret about all these hats when what we need is a helmet? For the Christian, this helmet is custom fit and is never out of style!

Alice Shaw is a member of the Apostolic Faith Church in Richland Center, Wisconsin.