Identity Crisis...

 Welcome to the third and final installment in the "Identity Trilogy" written by my sister, Kathy Ashley. If you'd like to catch up or re-read the previous post entitled The Identity Property and Identity Theft, simply click on the titles.

My challenge for you is to meditate on the Biblical principle...let it change you...motivate you.

Are you ready? Here we go!

For millennia there has been a search for the knowledge of one’s self. Famous philosophers as far back as Socrates have been on the quest of “know thyself.”  The belief that if a person can understand who she is, her value, and her talents, she will be a better individual is not new. Psychologists spend countless hours with children and adults alike attempting to help them understand themselves and how they can function better in their environment. They believe that our sense of self is vital to our happiness and if that sense is shattered, it can cause devastating effects. Even professionals in marketing examine actions, habits, and reactions of people in order to reach a desired goal.  There are many free “personality tests” that one can take that will show what kind of person she is and what type of job she would fit in best.  Perhaps there is an innate thirst within each of us to understand our identity and how we fit in our present circumstances.

But, there are times, though, even in my life that I have had an identity crisis.  These crisis can occur because of big changes (of which I have had many) or intense stressors (of which I have also had many). I was raised in a godly, Christian family with parents that believed God’s Word.  But, in life, I have met with opposing worldviews even in Christian circles, and a contentious philosophy that tries to overpower my life.  That internal turmoil rages and frustration mounts as I struggle to remain grounded in what I know to be true and right and what outside forces seem to contradict. I know how I was raised, what I have been taught.  But, how does that knowledge help me now? Uncertainty can settle in.

My mind is drawn to a certain individual in the sermon of Stephen the first martyr of the church in Jerusalem. (Acts 7) In his preaching he described Moses, the leader of the nation of Israel; his details of Moses’ ancestry, his biography, his character, and his personality give light to what we read in Exodus. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, nourished up in his father’s house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharoah’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds… (vs. 20-22) Talk about a pedigree!  He was born to godly, devout religious Jewish parents AND  on the other side of the spectrum was raised as a prince of Egypt!  Amazing to me that he was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, one of the most powerful nations in that time, and was mighty in words and deeds. 

But, a crisis in his identity came. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.  And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst yesterday? What a sinking feeling! 

Moses knew that God had put a special calling on his life; God had a particular purpose for Moses’ upbringing. Moses just thought he could take matters into his own hands and repair the immediate situation.  What an internal turmoil must have raged in his heart!  He knew what was true and right, but those circumstances and outside forces definitely contradicted it. Is it any wonder that he escaped to the wilderness for forty years?! How I have wished at times to have the wings of a dove! for then I would fly away and be at rest! (Psalm 55:6)

We do not have a pedigree like Moses; we have not been reared on both sides of the spectrum. But, it is comforting to know that others have had crisis, too. The question then comes, Is there a lifeline in this moment of crisis?  

Absolutely! Moses ran away to the country of Midian. It was there that while he was keeping the flock on the backside of a desert that the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in the midst of a burning bush. Moses asked the Lord the simple question, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?!? The Lord assured him once again, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee…. (Ex. 3:14) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. God responded to Moses’ question of “Who am I?” with Who He is… I AM.  

Honestly and sincerely it is that simple. When thrown into an identity crisis, we must return to the identity property.  Who I am is based, founded, and solidified in Who He is. Even David, perhaps called the man after God’s own heart because he understood this very principle said several times, Thou art my hiding place: thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.  Selah. (Ps. 32:7) Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. (Ps. 119:114) and my favorite is in Psalm 139 which reiterates that God knows me – All of me. 

My identity, my being, is rooted in the God that created me, the God that redeemed me, the God that sustains me. He is my fortress, He is my rock, He is my deliverance; in Him will I trust even in an identity crisis.

If you still haven't checked out Vitamins for the Soul, you can purchase it HERE through Sword of the Lord Publicaitons.

Simply,