Grace In The Valley By Heath AdamsonНамуна

Day 6

Who Are You, Really?

Isaiah 43:1–7

There is a saying in Judaism: the same sun that melts the wax can also harden the clay. The substance of who we are, our identity, is ultimately revealed by difficulty. It takes courage to see hope when everything within us disagrees. Sometimes it’s so hard that just can’t see, and we take on a face that is not our own.

Day after day, week after week, and at times over the years, we become someone God never created us to become. We become who we detest. We reflect the very circumstance we abhor. We forget who we truly are.

Compared to Psalm 23, other ancient literature is glaringly absent of self-understanding. David was ahead of his time. His writing is filled with statements like “I was a stranger,” and “I consider all of the works of your hands.” David discovered who he was when it was inconvenient, painful, but all too necessary. 

Sometimes to know our true identity we simply need to remember God has been with us all along. This is the foundation David built Psalm 23 on. He saw God as a shepherd who led him to where he was. David rose above his experience. He learned to see God for who he truly was, and therefore who God made him to be. 

In your valley, do you recognize who God is? Some crucial moments of identity, if we will look back, were carved into the terrain of our minds by those who should have been there to protect us. Like David, maybe you were betrayed, isolated, or wounded by someone who should have loved you.

Your journey to discover who you are and who God is can be that deep, dark place where a harsh word was spoken over you or a bully humiliated you. When you die, you won’t stand before a mirror or your peers to give account. You will stand before God, who calls you close to himself. Here and now, you can peer into his eyes and see your true reflection. Your identity may be the longest battle you’ve fought.

For all of us, God is there to restore and make new. And he does some of his most beautiful work in the valley.

What have your circumstances led you to believe about who you are? Read Isaiah 43:1–7. What does God say about who you are in his eyes?