Set Your Eyes Higher - a 5 Day PlanSample

When I was in seventh grade, I gave my best attempt at an “edgy phase.” We had just moved back to Colorado from a short stint in Florida, and this would be my first year of middle school after a year of homeschool and a cross-country move. I felt pressure to show that I was still “normal,” and I probably overcorrected. I really committed to this phase—skater shoes, studded belts, heavy eyeliner. I downloaded the most popular hardcore rock songs I knew at that time: a short list, but I did my best. And I spent one hundred dollars (roughly two grand in seventh grade dollars) on a skateboard.

But underneath, I was the same old me—a sweet Christian girl, who went to camp for a month every summer and learned about the Bible. I was just trying out a new identity, telling my family, “This is who I am now!” They knew the truth, of course. I was still obsessed with glitter and devouring The Princess Diaries books in my spare time. I must have looked ridiculous to my parents.

I think our attempts to define ourselves apart from God must look similar. We go around trying on new identities, and meanwhile, the One who knows us better than anyone, looks lovingly upon us, waiting for us to come back to our senses.

Any attempt to design our own identity apart from God inevitably lands us in a place of inauthenticity, not truth and freedom. Instead of trying to look at our deceptive, sick hearts to lead us forward, we must look to God to find peace in our identity. We have to submit ourselves to the truth that God is God—and we are not. We have to surrender to the frustrating but ultimately freeing reality that He knows everything, and we only know a tiny fraction. We have to make peace with the reality that He is the Shepherd and we are sheep. If we can get our heads around these principles, we might stand a chance of truly discerning what God made us to be.

Prayer

God, I confess my habit of telling You, my Creator, who I am. But of course You already know the real me better than anyone. Help me to be content with being Your sheep, and remind me that You are such a trustworthy Shepherd. Amen.