Choose Your Futureናሙና

Refuse It

Hebrews 11:24 “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, REFUSED to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” (NIV, emphasis added).

I think there is just so much to learn from watching how a toddler says, ‘No!’. A toddler’s no is a complete sentence. I can imagine Moses saying the toddler kind of ‘no’ every time people tried to label him the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. The first choice Moses made was he refused to be defined by others. To be defined as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter was prestigious, but Moses refused it. For you to become all that God has called you to be, you have to refuse to be defined by others. Moses was born a Hebrew slave but raised as Egyptian royalty. However, Moses had to choose how he would be identified - Egyptian royalty or Hebrew slave.

The question is, which will you choose—Egyptian royalty or Hebrew slave? Who are you letting determine your identity—your God or your circle? Sometimes, people allow culture, other people, or social media to determine who they are. Guess what? Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and it came from finding his identity in God.

Will I be approved? Will I be loved? Will I be accepted? These are some of the biggest fears that people have today. But when we settle who is going to determine our identity, it makes us resistant to the fear of disapproval. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 “…Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts.” God gives us the answer to purpose in His Word, and it is simple: we are here to please God. When you know that your purpose is to please God and not people, it frees you from the compulsion to please people. When I settle in my heart that my identity is determined by God and God alone, then I can resist every pressure to mould me into how the world wants me to be.

1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted” (MSG). Moses refused to be defined by what people called him. He chose to be defined by what God had called him. Only the right choices based on the right values will give you the right future.

Commit: Commit to finding your identity in God through His Word and The Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Father, I am not what people say I am, I am not even who I think I am. I am who You say that I am. In Jesus' Name, Amen!