Stolen Identity
The Uber driver pulled up to the curb and popped the trunk.
She gathered her purse, said a quick word of thanks, got out of the car and quickly went around to the back to get her luggage. The driver met her there and helped her get her suitcase and carry-on out of the trunk and onto the sidewalk.
“Thanks again!”
“No problem. Have a nice trip.”
Well. She wasn’t here to have a nice trip. This was business. As she rolled her luggage into the terminal her mind reeled with the weight of the importance of this journey. She absolutely had to make a good impression. Her presentation was everything. From the moment she would walk into the board room, things had to be perfect. So she had planned out every last detail…even down to the type of shampoo she would use that morning.
She breathed a heavy sigh when she saw the line through security and kicked herself for not paying the extra fee for precheck. At least she came early and allowed plenty of time for this. She stood in line and checked her phone. A message from her boss with some last minute instructions. A text from her husband wishing her well, then asking where the small hand mixer was. Another from her teenage daughter asking if she could spend the night with a friend because “dad has no idea how to cook!”
“Jeez! I’m gone for 5 minutes…!”
The line had been moving at a good pace. She put her phone away, wanting to be ready when she got to the TSA agent. Her thoughts bounded from one thing to the next as she moved along. How was her family going to survive 4 days without her? What happens if her laptop fails? How much makeup should she wear? Did she bring the right outfits? What were these important people going to think of her?
“Ma’am? ID and boarding pass please.”
Shaken from her thoughts, she walked up to the TSA agent and handed him her credentials. He looked at her ID, then looked at her and suddenly she thought to herself… “What does he see?”
Does he see a smart woman, comfortable, but not overly casual in her black skinny jeans, simple white t-shirt, cardigan and flat-heeled booties. Auburn hair, neatly tied back at the nape of her neck. Warm brown eyes, olive skin, not too overweight, but grateful for her height hiding it well.
Or does he see her brokenness, her feelings of inadequacy…as an employee, as a wife, as a mother? Does he look through those brown eyes and see how she is scared to death about this trip? Does he see how she feels her insufficiency and incompetence will cost her company this contract and ultimately her job. Can he see how enormously disqualified she feels about everything? Does he see how hard her heart is hammering in her chest…how she is ready to abandon this whole thing and bolt for the door?
“Thank you. Move along.”
She performs her best smile, takes her pass and ID and places her carry-on onto the security counter.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10
What are some words you would use to describe yourself?
Tall? Short? Introverted? Extroverted? Life of the party? Wallflower? I’m sure the list could go on.
When you think about your messes and your brokenness, what words would you use? What words do you use to identify yourself?
Inadequate? Undeserving? Lost cause? Useless? Failure?
Have you disqualified yourself from being anything but a detriment to all things spiritual? Do you think, “how could I help anyone else when I could barely get myself out the door”?
Have you lost your identity? Has the enemy stolen it from you?
God knows your story better than you do – your brokenness, your favorite sin, your ungodly thoughts, your dysfunctional habits, your failures – yet He still says, “Come, follow me, I have amazing plans for you!”
You are not disqualified. You have not lost your identity. You never did.
He can use our scars and brokenness for His greater works.
But so often we use them as excuses.
Excuses for saying no to His calling. Excuses for not getting involved when we should. “But people will see…what if they find out about…I don’t know a lot about the bible…what if someone asks me a question I don’t know the answer to…”
Friends, if “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas everyday. It’s time to stop making excuses and start getting in the game! Your identity is in Jesus Christ! The great I Am. The Resurrection and the Life! And if He is your Lord and Savior, you belong to Him. He sees you through His lens. Your identity is in Him. It’s not in your past, what you did or what you were. It’s in whose you are right now. And what Jesus did on the cross has more than qualified you for the amazing things He wants to do in your life!
Dear Father. I feel so inadequate sometimes! I often wonder why you chose me…but at the same time, wonder in awe…You chose me! Help me to see my scars not as excuses for disqualification, but as marks of a warrior. After all, Jesus has scars too. Thank you that I have my identity in You! Amen.
