Identity - Choosing to Belileve What He Says About You

I’m so stirred after watching Shelly Hundley preach at the One Thing Conference online. Her story is amazing and such a picture of the Lord’s power to deliver anyone from the strongest bondages. She talked about how she had places in her heart that no one could reach. After counseling and getting professional help, she came to the decision that suicide was the answer. No one could reach the place of pain that was inside of her. After years of abuse in her childhood, she was ready to call it quits when she was 19. She goes on to say how the Lord, the God who sits in the heavens and over the earth, has the ability to reach in and bring wholeness to the parts that no one else can reach. It’s amazing that the Lord not only heals us, but understands us so completely and sees every part of us. No one can see the inside of us. No one can know our thoughts or fears. But He does.

She talked about the importance of filling our hearts and minds on the love of God. When we get in a rut, to “shake off the dust” (Isaiah 52:2) and rise up from the place of allowing things to trample us (our pasts, thoughts etc.). God has called us to walk in the truth of who we are in Him. And, if you are like me, there are times when sitting in the dust seems to be easiest. When all of the strength I once had in the Lord is gone and all I can do it sit and be trampled on. In that place hope seems to be very distant. But the Lord is calling to me, and everyone else who feels they are sitting in the dust, and saying “shake off the dust and arise.” Begin to walk in truth again and feed our hearts and minds on who we are in the Lord, not what people have called us or the opinion of others. Break out of the old habits and come into the place the Lord has made for you – a place of rest and confidence that what He says about you is true. Good stuff, Shelly.

I’m old enough now that I realize life with the Lord is not making one decision to serve Him and that’s it. It’s saying yes to Him again, and again, and again. I think a lot of people give up on the process He takes us through because they don’t always feel strong. The key word is PROCESS and it happens to be life long. When they make a wrong choice or choose a not so great path, they don’t feel like they can come back to the place they used to be in the Lord. Life is about what we do when we make mistakes. And that is what brings greatness – what we do when we make mistakes, not that we never make them. And what we do in that place is based on how we view God. I once thought He was mad and disappointed. Therefore, I wasn’t about to go to Him in my weakness. Heck no, I don’t want a spanking. But as I set my heart on the Word and truth of how He feels about me, my emotions towards Him changed. There are most certainly days that I still struggle in my identity – sometimes I’m my worst enemy. But in knowing that He calls me by a different “name,” the delight of His heart, it causes me to come to Him when I feel weak. The fact that He is safe and He is for me brings much relief to me. And He cares about me. And He smiles a lot. And He is happy…and loves me.