The Best Time to Find Out Who You Are

It began as a little whisper. 

I think most of the best things in life probably do.

It was first thing in the morning, when I had the choice between pulling the charging cord out my phone and pulling my legs out from under the covers and sauntering to the back porch with my Bible and journal in hand. I’ve been working on making the latter of those two choices a habit these days as best I can, but the phone sure does want to talk, too.

And that’s when I heard that still, small voice whisper: “Let me tell you who you are before the world does.”

Just a few days before, I’d shared some new content online and had new subscribers signing up to receive emails With Love, From Here.

I’m not dying for huge numbers and have tried my best to rather focus on writing clearly to the hearts I think I’m supposed to be writing to with the words I think I’m supposed to be writing, but I’ve also been learning a bit more about what the journey of publishing looks like for the average non-fiction writer. Turns out “How many followers do you have?” and “How many subscribers get your emails?” are actual questions that I’ll be answering as I continue to pitch ideas and take the next steps on the journey.

So when those little numbers started pinging that day with the happy little news from MailChimp that someone new is “Picking Up What I’m Putting Down”? I was pretty darn happy about it.

And that is all fine and well and reasonable to celebrate.

But I think the whisper came that morning with a few different reminders attached. Numbers can come and numbers can go. Fans can quickly change from cheering to sneering and jeering. (If Jesus was a hipster teenager right now, I imagine Him rolling His eyes and commenting, “Um, yes! Ask Me how I know. Anybody remember Holy Week? Most. Epic. Cheer-to-Jeer experience. EVER.”)

Sometimes people will love you for what you do. How you navigate the complexities around the office or improve the ROI. How you love on the kids in your classroom wholeheartedly even when all kinds of crazy seem to be busting out of every corner. Sometimes people will love what your art, your words, your heart brings to the table.

And sometimes they won’t.

Sometimes the hard stuff you’re doing is the unseen stuff. It’s cleaning the toilets. It’s making the PBJs. It’s the 3 am diaper change that no one sees and no one cheers for. 

Or worse: sometimes you have to do the thing that you know in your heart is the right thing to do, and the folks around you don’t like the idea. They disagree with your principles. Don’t understand why your heart is set. Don’t get that there is a fire inside of you that you just can’t suppress.

Crazy enough, what we should do when the world is cheering and what we should do when the world is jeering? It’s exactly the same thing.

We keep letting the God Who created us tell us who we are. We keep asking Him to guide our steps and tell us how to live. 

We aren’t always going to get it right. And perfection isn’t the goal, is it?

The goal is to consistently turn to Jesus and ask, “What does faithfulness look like today? What would it look like to run the race well today?” 

Maybe today it is steering a Fortune 500 company in the right direction. Or maybe today it’s being the one who’s there to change that diaper at 3 am. 

Neither of these two actions will carry greater weight in the light of eternity if they are both done to honor and glorify God.

We do what we can, and then we invite God to turn our mistakes into confetti.

When we wake up in the morning, we really don’t need to let the voices come roaring in that say, “Yes, you are awesome!” or “Look at all these people who are more awesome than you.”

We really need words like these to make our souls brave, and to remind us that it’s not the world’s applause or approval we’re after anyway.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday. {Psalm 37:3-6}

The world is full of voices. Voices so eager to tell you what theythink, they might decide to shout at you to let you know. {I have an actualstory about that I’ll share next week…}

But I’m sharing these thoughts to give you this sermon in a nutshell: Who you truly are has very little to do with what the people around you have to say about you. Your skills or abilities or failures or disabilities. All these things pale in comparison to the Imago Dei of you… the uniquely wonderful you, created not only by God but also in His Image.

So even if it’s going to just be the first five minutes before your feet hit the floor, or maybe you’ve got an hour you can spend with the Lord and the Word on the back porch, either way, aim to let God have the first say and the final say. Be reminded, and remind yourself again and again to Trust Him, do good, feed on Hisfaithfulness. Let Him bring the good things to pass, and let your heart be warmed with the knowledge that nothing you say or do changes His incredible, unstoppable everlasting love for you.

xCC

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If you’d like a little help finding some words to tell you who you are every morning, these are two of my favorite devotionals that can whisper gallons of truth in ounces of words…

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

I was just given a Scripture Journal like this one and I’m really excited about it!! (Thanks, Emily!!!!)

If you’d like to chat more with your children about finding their identity in what God says rather than everyone else, I love…

You are Special by Max Lucado

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman

And in case you missed it? After two and a half years of great dinners, this week I shared some thoughts about the Instant Pot for friends who are on the fence! View that post here!

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Psst! If you’re encouraged today, you can subscribe to receive weekly Love, From Here and never miss a post by clicking right here! I’ll do a happy dance, and you’ll get encouraging words in your inbox every week (and my new Five Steps to a Fantastic Meal Plan System.) Definitely a win/win!

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