Monday, November 14, 2016

Where does your identity lie?

This past month, the overwhelming theme God has been instilling in me has been IDENTITY.

MK retreat
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a retreat for adult MKs (missionary kids who grew up in another country).  During one session we discussed our identity, pinpointing those things in our lives that 'defined us'.  We also were to write in lies and darkness that the enemy may put on us that affect our identity.  In the center, we located our TRUE identity in Christ such as created by God, daughter of the King, etc.  Since I'm a visual learner, it helped to see it laid out in diagram form like this.  I have done this sort of exercise before but I was surprised at how much it had changed over the years.  Whether I like it or not, I realized that my sister's death has changed aspects of my identity.

In some ways, it is good because I've rearranged my priorities and grown stronger and more dependent on the Lord.  Yet oftentimes, the lies of Satan that I let myself believe can sometimes be very overwhelming.  In my mind I hear his taunts, "Ha. You call yourself a social worker and yet you couldn't even save your sister" or "What guy would want to marry someone who's sister commited suicide?"  While deep down, I knew they are lies, they cloud my judgment and send me reeling, crumbling my self-esteem into pieces.

While it's a daily struggle, I need to base my identity on what God says about me.  I need to keep my kingdom focus on my central identity which is in Jesus Christ and can never be shaken!  Wow.  What kind of kingdom impact could I have if I lived in this truth every single day?

Of course God didn't stop there!  In my small group, we have been discussing similar topics through the book Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst.  She mentions,
"Old patterns of thought must be torn out, and a new way of looking at the core of who I am using God's truth has to be put in place. My identity must be anchored to the truth of who God is and who He is to me. Only then can I find a stability beyond what my feelings will ever allow. The closer I align my truth with His truth, the more closely I identity with God- and the more my identity really is in Him".  

Your identity can't be tied to you what has happened to you because this is constantly changing.  Jesus is the only unchanging constant and so our identity and hope must be anchored in Him!  In Christ, my identity is so much more than my circumstances.  Yes, my sister's death rocked my world and changed a lot of things, but it is not where I ultimately find my identity.  I'm not labelled by this and am not a victim of my circumstances.
To top it off, God has also had me reading Ephesians in my devotional time...which is all about spiritual blessings and identity in Christ.
"Ok God, I get it, you can stop talking to me through a megaphone now!"  Sometimes I do need truth coming at me from all directions or else I won't get it!
I must never forget that my identity is in Christ!

"We must tie our identities to our unchanging, unflinching, unyielding, undeniably good, and unquestionably loving God." 
~Lysa TerKeurst

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