And as I have responded to this most gracious and wonderful invitation from the Creator of the Universe, the One who keeps the planets in orbit while designing each and every one of the hundreds of millions of snowflakes that fell yesterday, I have indeed found rest. For not only is this Almighty God powerful and strong beyond my deepest understanding, He is gentle and loving and kind. He knows the number of hairs on my head. He knows everything thing about me, truth be told. My thoughts. My fears. My hopes. My dreams. Before I ever say anything, He knows what words will be coming out of my mouth. He knows when I sit down and when I get up. He knows when I go to bed and when I wake up. He has hemmed me in behind and before; He is WITH me, each and every step of the way, holding my hand -- IF I will LET Him.
The past couple days I have not only let God hold my hand, but wrap His arms around me and pull me close to His chest. I can feel the warmth of that embrace and my soul has been revived.
You see, I was asking questions. Lots of questions. All in all, though, they pretty much boiled down to these two questions:
Who am I? and What if I can't do this?
I think many people today are asking the same questions. Far too many men and women, young boys and girls, don't know who they are anymore. They struggle with their identity -- who they are, what they're supposed to do in life, and how their life is significant among a sea of people. It is certainly easy to get lost in the crowd. That's when we have to stop. We getting caught in the hustle and bustle of life and letting people trample us down in the streets. We're tried of running the rat race. We're weak and weary and just want to give up. Throw in the towel.
Then as we hit rock bottom, if we stop and take just a second to listen, we hear it. That gentle whisper. That tug at our hearts. Don't ignore it. Don't brush it aside. Please, please, please stop and listen. Hear what God is saying to you. Yes, YOU.
"Come to me, you who weak and weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Once God has your attention, He's going to turn the tables and start asking you questions. Ironically enough, He tends to ask us the same questions we've been asking Him. The answers, however, are far different this time around.
Yesterday, I blogged about the first question: Who am I?
If you're like me you find yourself asking:
"Who am I that God should use me?"
"Who am I that God would want to bless me?"
"Why am I so special?"
The answer revolves more around who GOD is than who you are.
Let me say that again, a different way.
It's not about YOU. It's all about HIM.
You see, we can ask God all day long, "Who am I?" and He can tell us how much He loves us, how He uniquely created each and every one of us, giving us special gifts and abilities, how He delights in us, how He wants the best for us, how He has a plan and purpose for our lives, how He is working in us to make us more like Him, how He has chosen us to be His children and longs to have fellowship with us every single day of our lives and then for all eternity as well.
The problem is we don't believe Him. We tune Him out. We listen to the world instead. We let Satan's lies creep into our hearts and minds. We're bombarded from every angle and thus we just give up and stop asking who we are. We just accept "I'm nobody." "I'm not special." "I'm not important." or whatever. I wrote earlier this week how we have to combat those lies with the TRUTH of God's Word. Only when we do that can we have victory and not only realize who we are, but more importantly WHO GOD IS.
Remember how I said God turns the tables and starts asking us the same questions we've been asking Him. So when we want to know, "Who am I?" God doesn't always answer our question. Rather, He asks us the same question, "Well, Who am I?" See what happened? It's not about YOU. It's about HIM.
So, just as God has been challenging me, I now encourage you -- don't look at yourself, don't ask "Who am I?". Stop looking in the mirror and start looking in the Word. Get your eyes off yourself and start focusing on the One who made you. He's asking you, "Who am I?" He even gives you the answer too!!!
I love how God has many names. There's not just one answer to His question, "Who am I?" He reveals Himself in many ways because He knows that each one of us is different and at different places in our lives. And then He meets us right where we are. One name might stick out at a certain time in your life due to your situation, and another name might be more significant to you several years later when you are at a different place in life. I love that. And best of all, no matter who you are or where you are at in life -- God is God. Yes, He reveals Himself in different ways at different times, but He never changes. I don't know about you, but I find comfort in that.
Go back over those names again. Read through the list. Write down one or two names that jump out at you, that speak to you about where you are right now.
You've been asking God, "Who am I?" and now He's asked you the same question. Let His answer shift your perspective on life. It's not about YOU. It's all about Him. And that changes everything!!!
That truth also prepares us for the next question God has for us, the same one we were asking Him. "What if I can't do this?"
When we ask God that question, we are focused on our shortcomings, our weaknesses, our fears, our doubts. We are looking at all that is going on around us and all too easily we get discouraged and overwhelmed by all that could go wrong. Like Peter when he got out of the boat and started walking on the water towards Jesus during the storm, we take our eyes off God and focus on the wind and the waves. We get scared that we're going to drown and we do begin to sink. We forget that the One who made the wind and the waves, the One who can say, "Be still," and the sea will immediately be calm at the sound of His voice, is right there on the water with us.
We can laugh at Peter and his lack of faith, but it's not as funny when we realize how often we do the same thing. We ask God, "What if I can't do this?"
"What if I fail?"
"What if I mess up?"
"What if this is too hard for me?"
"What if I make a fool of myself?"
They seem like legitimate questions. We want to be responsible and realistic as we make life decisions, after all. We don't want to go out on a limb or be crazy or get in over our heads, right?
Well, remember how I said God takes our question, "What if I can't?" and asks us the very same thing. Somehow, when God presents that question to us, "What if I can't?" it suddenly seems absolutely absurd and ridiculous and even blasphemous to ask such a thing!!! God can do anything. Nothing is impossible for Him! How dare we think that something is too hard or difficult or big for Him! How incredulous to entertain the question, even for a second, "What if God can't do this?" Of course He can! He's GOD!!!
And yet, we don't believe He can. At least we live like we don't believe Him. That's what we're doing when we doubt and fear and worry and question, "What if I can't do this?"
Remember, it's not about YOU. It's all about HIM.
You CAN'T do it. Not on your own.
It IS too big and hard and difficult for you. By yourself.
Good thing we're not on our own. Good thing we're not by ourselves.
God is with us, working in and through us to accomplish HIS plans and purposes.
And when God sets out to do something, He never fails. NEVER.
He never quits. He never gives up.
No obstacle is too big for Him. No mountain too high. No valley too low.
Nothing is too hard for Him. Nothing too difficult. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible for Him.
Scroll back up and look through that list of His names one more time.
Soak them in. Let them take root in your heart of hearts.
Remind yourself that THAT GOD -- the One whose names you just read -- is with you. Right now. All day, every day. He will never leave you or forsake you. And if that God -- the One whose names you just read -- is for you, then what can stop you? More accurately, what can stop HIM?
Now, go ahead. Ask Him, "What if I can't do this?"
I dare you.
You didn't do it, did you?
I hope not.
Because remember -- It's not about YOU. It's about HIM.
Don't ask "Who am I?"
Instead, focus on the GREAT I AM and who HE is.
And with that in mind, stop asking, "What if I can't do this?"
Turn your eyes to God and rephrase the question, "What if HE can?"
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