What's In A Name: I AMEjemplo

Learning to drive a car is a big step in life. There’s a lot that goes into becoming a good driver, and that’s a big responsibility. You have to know the rules of the road, how to work all the basic components of the car you are driving, and how to get from one point to another safely by putting all those pieces together. If you lose focus or concentration at the wrong time bad things can happen.

It doesn’t take much for a situation to get out of hand quickly, either. Looking down at a phone, changing the radio station, or talking to a friend and getting distracted…sometimes accidents are caused by the smallest things when we aren’t paying attention.

So far we’ve been looking at these “I AM” statements from God: the Great “I AM”. He is above all things for all time. Today, our “I AM” statement comes from a man who’s writing about himself. Psalm 88:4 says, “I AM like a man without strength”. Have you ever been there? Exhausted, burned out, maybe feeling isolated and alone? This feeling can also come when we are going through life in routine and we just feel…well…bored. Strength can be derived from a lot of places, and that includes purpose and direction.

That phrase “I AM” is the same phrase found in Exodus 3:14 when God says, “I AM who I AM”: The Hebrew “hayah” (haw-yaw) meaning to exist, become or come to pass. For this writer, when he says, “I AM a man without strength” he really means “I have becomea man without strength”.

Just like a driver who takes their eyes off the road, or an accident caused without any intention (that’s why they are called “accidents” after all), this just happens to him. Circumstances, or maybe some kind of adversity, has caused this writer to take his eyes off of the Great “I AM”. As a result, he’s drained by his life, feeling hopeless. All because he’s trying to face it all in his own strength.

Amazingly, Psalms 89-90 serve as a “course correction” to this feeling. Psalm 89:6-8 remind us who God REALLY is (“…who is strong like you, Lord?”). Then Psalm 90:14-17 are a prayer to Him to “satisfy us…so that we may be glad all of our days”!

Today, ask yourself, “What have I become?” Pray through Psalm 90:14-17 as a way to “course correct”!