Identity

This has been an interesting week for me and it feels like the Lord is trying to get my attention so He can show me something I've been praying to find. Recently I've been asking myself who I am. This is a standard question I'm sure we've all asked ourselves at one point in our lives. This questioned has vexed me because I can’t seem to identify myself beyond what my interests are and what I do for a living. Don’t get me wrong, who you are and who I am are somewhat about what we do and what we enjoy but the part of it that bothers me is that there must be more to it than that. Shouldn’t there? I love playing the guitar and I love singing. I love serving people and the church and seeing the Lord move through what He allows my hands to do. That is who I think, or should I say thought, I was.

And so that brings me to the point of this interesting week I’ve found myself living. On Sunday, while doing my job, I sliced my index and middle fingers on the hand I use to make chords on my guitar. Since then, I have been unable to play music on my guitar and to be honest, that’s been hard. Little did I know that it was only the beginning of God’s plan for this season of my life. I went to see a Ear, Nose and Throat specialist on Tuesday morning to check out a problem I’ve been having in my right ear. In the process of diagnosing my issue, the doctor determined that I would need to undergo surgery to remove my tonsils and adenoids. I will be having the procedure done next Wednesday. I was also told it would take about a month for me to fully recover from the surgery and was also given a list of things I cannot do while recovering. The list my doctor proceeded to run down of “don’ts” turned out to be every aspect of what I do for my job. Throughout the afternoon I was thinking about this whole situation that so unexpectedly dropped on me and I asked God “why now?”

And the revelation hit me. While initially it seemed like the Lord was taking away everything that made me “who I am,” really, He was stripping away everything so that I can really find out who I am. With all of these things stripped away and a month of rest and Sabbath with the Lord, I can press into His spirit and discover who I am in Christ. Beyond what I do and what I enjoy, who I am in Christ is what is most important and I don’t think I ever would have gone searching for that willingly. So I’m entering this journey, this season, this chapter of my life. I can’t see how this could have gone any other way and I’m excited to travel this road with just Him and me.

Who am I? Who are you? Let's find out. He's wanting to show us.