Who Do You Think You Are?

These are the times that try men's souls.  Yet they also are the times which force us to consider who we are and where we are going.  Nothing gets our attention like trouble.  In these times our first impulse is to turn to God and cry out for help.

Yet, something deeper is happening than just our current pandemic situation.  There is a shaking of the whole normal order of life, which brings us to ask some important questions beyond just are we going to get through this.  The heart of all questions is who am I?

First, you didn't come into being by any effort on your part.  Secondly you would not have made it if someone didn't love you, take care of you, and help you to grow up.  And thirdly, you have somewhere acquired some meaning and direction for which you live and do the things you do.   The Word would say that you are "From Him, through Him, and for Him.

From Him.  In reflection this week, the Holy Spirit opened my mind to consider that I am an eternal being.    Somehow I was given existence and I will always be.  My flesh can;t handle the thought of always being and I want to shudder thinking what that may mean.  Just the same, that is the way it is.   On the other hand, all I can do is be thankful, thankful that Someone created me a living person, that others nurtured and invested their efforts to raise me, and that through the people and experiences of life, God has given meaning and direction in living out my life.  

Through Him. Likewise, along the way, God has always been with me.  Life has a way of confronting us with challenges, problems, and choices, some of which we completely fail. Yet, in looking back, God has always been with me and given me the strength and peace to overcome and move forward.  Through it all, He  gracious;y revealed Himself to me and allowed me to understand His Word, His love, and promises.
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For Him.  Without a vision, people perish.  In the process of the business and responsibilities of life, somehow God has given me the motivation and enjoyment of being the person He made me and using the talents that I have.  He calls me to be faithful to His calling and what He has given.  The reason I live is to please Him.  

In reading Psalm 119 this morning, it was easy to be reminded how awesome and eternal, yet gentle and delightful God's Word is.  We are the most blessed people on earth (Psalm 21:4) to know Him and to have His Word in our hearts and minds.  It blows my mind, too much to handle, when I consider the eternal plan of goodness and complete fulfillment God has for me, forever. (to give me a future and a hope)  So I am who He says I am, I live because He created me, I will make it because He is with me, and finally I will live abundantly forever because He is that kind of loving, forgiving, awesome God who has provided it all from start to finish.  What a joy and privilege to know and love Jesus, embrace the presence of the Spirit each day, and  cry "Abba Father" to the living God.  No wonder we will  join the angels and saints in crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy" forever.