A Future and a Hope

What do you do when life shakes you?

• When your health fails...

• When you lose your job...

• When you get divorced...

• When your dream flops...

• When you make that one bad decision...

• What do you do when something that has defined you your entire life is gone?

• When your platform disappears...

• When your perfect family is torn apart...

• When you go bankrupt...

• When your looks fade…

In tough moments like these, it’s easy to question who we are. When my NFL career was crumbling, at times I’d wonder the same thing. Am I the person who won the Heisman Trophy? Or am I the person who has been told over and over by so-called analysts that I can’t throw?

The dictionary defines identity as “who someone is, the name of a person, the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others.” I like to say that identity comes not necessarily from who we are, but from whose we are.

I am a child of God. My foundation for who I am is grounded in my faith. In a God who loves me. In a God who gives me purpose. In a God who sees the big picture. In a God who always has a greater plan.

Who am I? I am the object of His love.

So while I may get hurt, disappointed, or frustrated by the negative side of life’s equations, my foundation doesn’t have to change. Even if I wrestle with internal feelings, I can hold on to God’s truth. I know He’s got a plan for me, even when I don’t know what it is or when it seems to look totally different than what I imagined.

This is what identity is about. It comes from God. And it gives us a future and a hope.

How do you see yourself?

How do you think God sees you?