Finding DadSample

My uncle owned a construction company called Cunningham Construction, and I needed a job!  During a college summer, I called my dad and asked if he thought Uncle Tom had some work for me.  Dad told me to call the office and tell my uncle I was ready to work.  I called and asked for Tom.  They told me he was busy.  I called my dad and relayed the message.  I’ll never forget what he said, in a way only he could, “Pick that phone back up and call them back.  Tell them who you are!  Son, your last name is on the front of the building.  You’re a Cunningham, boy.”  I called back, “My name is Luke Cunningham, can I talk to my Uncle Tom?”  Guess who came on the line ten seconds later?

My identity gave me access.  When we discover who we are, we access what we can truly do.  Trying to “do something” before “becoming someone” is a surefire way to live in the trap of performance.  But when we’re secure in our identity, we can “do something” without becoming defined by something.  I had a friend who planted a tree and removed the support stakes prematurely.  The next morning, he found the tree laying flat in his yard.  Our identity is the roots that keep us from falling over.  Without them, we go the way the wind blows.

Children find a piece of their identity in their father.  When Dad is out of the picture, part of our identity goes along with him.  We’re left on a journey of worldly self-discovery that opens the door to the wrong relationships, pornography, sin, rebellion, and trouble.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Christ has redeemed the role of the Father and reconciled our identity in Him.  Paul boldly declares as much in Galatians 6, “And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba Father.’”  The following verse is our identity statement, “Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child.”

Sin has no hold, and performance has no definition.  Abba Father has made you His child.  Rest in the identity of a son today.  Find comfort as His daughter.  Don’t let the world define you; your Father in Heaven has identified you!