Who I Am

Jeremiah 1:

 6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

 

   Don’t I do that? I say “Lord, I can’t do that. I can’t say the right things. I don’t fit in. I don’t have the talent like that person. I’m not qualified in this way or that.” I come up with excuse after excuse about why I can’t do whatever He has asked of me. But then He says, “Say not I am such and such a way” or “I can’t do it because of this”. I have a plan for you. Be not afraid of them, I have made a way for you.” 

  We watched the play JESUS at the Sight & Sound Theater last week. The scene where Jesus commanded the demons to go out of the man into the swine impressed me. Jesus asked the man what his name was, and many voices, all the demons, tried answering at once out of the man’s mouth. Voices condemning, naming that man many negative and derogatory things.  Jesus told him, “That is a lie! That is NOT who you are! You are a child of God.” Doesn’t He do that now? I come up with all these things about myself but He says it’s all a lie. He says that’s not who I am. And what a relief, I can believe Him! I’m not sure if that’s all Biblical, but they had a point. 

  Isaiah 43:1 says “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee... and he that formed thee… Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”  I’m going to switch to the NLT version for verses 3-6. “For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. Do not be afraid, for I am with you… I will say to the north and south, ‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth.’” What kind of love is that? I don’t really know how to tie in how He gave the countries for a ransom, etc. But He tells us not to fear. He calls us by name. He says ‘Thou art mine.’ If we are His, what more do we need? We are precious enough to Him that He gave His life. His life. He died for us. We are the sinful ones and yet He died. For us. Because He loved us. We are honored. He brings us back from the north and south, from the places we’ve ran in our sin. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. So what can I say when He tells me that what I’ve been telling myself about myself is a lie? I have no choice but to listen to Him, to hear Him tell me who I am.