Psalm 139:13-16
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Who are you? Where and with who, do you belong? I think everyone finds themselves at some point in their life wondering who they are and why they exist. When I was in High School I remember having such big dreams, the sky's the limit, I wanted to take the world by storm. I wanted to be the next great Broadway actress and nothing was going to stand in my way. Well as I sit here today writing this I can tell you that I am no where near that dream and yet I have found that it's ok. So many people, myself included, feel failure when our dreams change. When we experience life changes that completely take us by surprise. However the thing that we need to remember is that what we do for a living, where we live, or even what we look like doesn't define who we are. Believe it or not God does. We are made in his image, unique and different, not to make life difficult but to bring pieces of Him to earth. All the good things you see in everyone you know is a direct reflection of God. For me I see people around me handle things that stress me out with such love and a care free spirit. Looking at them I see the Holy Spirit in them and it allows me to pray that the Lord can move in that area in my life. Failure is a hard thing to talk about and I think it defines so many people's identity. I feel this way because until God did a major work in my life I felt that way. I had moments of complete despair because I felt like a failure. I felt that I had done all I could and that no matter what I was doing I couldn't be successful. So with that I felt that I was worthless which became my identity. It took God showing me what true success was to really understand who I am. Now of course I still want to do well and succeed, but I no longer let my drive for success define who I am. Dreams change. If you have told me at 18 that I was going to be a teacher who God had promised to write a book and speak before the nations, I would have laughed in your face. Yet eight years later that is exactly who I am. I am learning and growing as I teach my students. I am able to share with them so much more than just a subject matter. Without even mentioning his name I care share Jesus with them. Some of you might wonder how, but I show them his love, I try to always be understanding as He is with us. I allow them to make mistakes and learn from them as God does with me. I show the pieces of Him that He has given me. So my challenge to you is dream big and believe, but don't forget to find your real identity. Take time to ask God who you are and who he made you to be. Allow him to reveal what lies you might have believed about who you are. For once you discover who you are in Him life takes a whole new shape, a free shape, so what are you waiting for? I mean who doesn't want to be free!
