Who Am I?

I believe a lot of people, like me, struggle with this question. Sometimes I struggle with who I am and cannot get this doubt out of my mind. I wonder if I really matter. I want to be significant. I want to matter. I want to feel valued. I want to feel purpose and direction for my life. My life is filled with an awesome wife, family, friends and an awesome church - but sometimes I just don’t know Who I Am! Am I the only one who feels like this? Of course not! I believe there are seasons we all go through in our lives where we struggle like this. It is just a season of my life right now.

When I encounter seasons like this, I have to work extra-hard to meditate on God’s word. I have to figure out what God says about me? How does God view me? How does God feel about me? So I dig into the Bible. I chew on the following verses, in mind over and over throughout the day:

Isaiah 44:2 (CEV) “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.”

Psalm 139:15 (MSG) “You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.”

Psalm 139:16 (Contemporary English Version) “But with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do.”

Ephesians 1:4 (MSG) “Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.”

James 1:18 (NCV) “God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made.”

Isaiah 46:3-4 (NCV) “…I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you. I will carry you and save you.”

Here’s a poem I found by Russell Kelfer that really sums this all up:

You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!