"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well."
Psalm 139:13-14
The last time I wrote I began to share with you the four things God had placed on my heart about discovering who we are in Him. Do we truly know who we are? Are we partially sure of who we are? Is there a doubt in our minds that we are who we are? These questions, I'm sure, consume us at times. We struggle to make sense of the chaos around us because we're not quite sure where we fit in and on top of all that, who wants to be in the midst of chaos. Finding our place in life and knowing who we are is knowing who God is and what He has created us to do and be.
In the last post, I shared with you about Identity. Our Identity is the qualities that make us different from one another. The biggest thing that can keep us from discovering our identity and knowing who we are is our insecurities. Every time I think about God creating us individually, I envision a picture of Him sitting at a potters wheel, spinning the wheel and carefully sculpting the clay. What hard work that must be. Not one piece of pottery can be duplicated to look exactly like another. I remember when Chris and I first got married, I was teaching Art and going to school in the evenings and on Saturdays. I was taking drawing classes and decided I wanted to try something new, so I signed up for ceramic class. It was a credit needed as well so I just figured I'd get it out of the way. Well, needless to say, I fell in love with clay! I came home every night excited to tell Chris what I had been working on. I even brought home my work at times. We had even at one point considered purchasing a Kiln to keep in the garage so I could continue my creations after the classes where over. I had one problem though...I was not very skilled on the pottery wheel. I could never keep the clay wet enough. At times it was too wet...ugh. And then there were those moments that I had no control whatsoever on the speed of the wheel. My foot every time suddenly become as heavy as a sledge hammer and the clay would eventually go sliding, and often times, flying off the wheel. I felt frustrated every time I had to sit at that cursed thing.
There was another student in my class who could sit at the wheel and make the most beautiful pieces. He was so graceful in shaping that unique piece of pottery that would soon become a one of a kind masterpiece. Why couldn't I do that? Why was it so natural to him and for me it was such a mess? Piece after piece would come out of the kiln shaped and glazed to perfection. And here I stood watching and hoping I could one day create such masterpieces. But here's the irony in all of this. I wanted so badly to create the masterpiece but I didn't even enjoy sitting at the wheel. How could I make something so beautiful from sitting in a position I so much disliked? I didn't even enjoy the wheel. My passion was sitting at a large table surface with a 6lb block of recycled clay and hand-building my masterpiece. I began to build pieces using a coil method that allowed you to create a base shape, roll pieces of clay into coil shapes and then carefully shape them around the base building from the bottom up. These pieces too were unique, just as those thrown on the wheel, but created in a different way. I had found my position in pottery building. I was amazed at the things that were coming from these hands of mine and so excited to see that God could use me in a different way. Later that semester, one of my pieces was chosen to go on display at the student exhibition.
You see, I thought that just because I couldn't sculpt the way someone else did, I must not have had the same ability as they did. It wasn't about the ability, it was about the technique. I had the ability, but God just created me to operate in a different way.
Some people may be able to gracefully shape and mold the life of others in a quick spin of the wheel and then there are those who must be built from the bottom up because they have been broken and torn apart. God showed me love and compassion for the people and because of that I know my purpose and position in helping to rebuild others who have been broken. The amazing thing about clay is that it can be recycled. Remember I mentioned that I had been using recycled clay for my projects at school? The clay had come from broken pieces that didn't quite turn out the way they were expected but I was able to take that broken clay and reuse it to build something beautiful. And guess what? We are not perfect! After the clay would go through the firing process, I would remove it from the kiln and there would often times be a crack or two but the piece was still beautiful, imperfections and all. No one is perfect, but we can all be rebuilt.
I had originally intended on covering only one point in todays blog but God works in his own way :)
Point 2 and 3 of knowing who you are, are Purpose and Position.
Do we know our purpose in life? Purpose is the reason for which something (or someone in this case) exists. What are you purposed to do? What are you designed to do? Our purpose in life is always bigger than us but we have no need to fear it. David didn't fear the giant when he set out to accomplish what God created him to do. He didn't flinch or step back. He stepped forward in confidence that God would be there with him no matter what he faced. We each have a purpose. What is it that makes you feel like your fulfilling life? When living for God what brings us Joy? What do you love to do? These are all great questions to ask ourselves but they are not the only indicators of why we live on purpose. We ARE on Purpose...everyday of our life.
I read so many stories of people who have done so much in their life and then before they pass they feel as though they have accomplished nothing. Why is that? Did they know their purpose or where they only cruising through life unaware of their God-given purpose? How can they be so well known, wealthy, and admired and yet feel as though they lived alone in the darkest of places with no understanding of life; no meaning? We can be successful at somethings and still be out of our purpose. I read another story recently of a young man who had passed away in a car accident. He was only 16 and a great football player for his high school team. The story shared that in his journal he had written that God had blessed him with the gift of kicking so that he could have the opportunity to share his belief in Christ with others. While alive, he did just that and some of his friends did come to know The Lord, but it wasn't until after his death that a great number of people had given their life to the Lord both during and after his funeral all because of his witness while alive on this earth. This kid was truly living His purpose and he knew it. And even now after death, the memory of his life brings salvation to the lost.
The third point was Position. Our position is the proper or appropriate place in which we belong. What is the position that we are supposed to be in? What role to we play? A position is intended to help fill a space needing to be filled because the rest of the space can not properly function when there is a gap or missing component. If we are out of position, then we affect everything else around us. I remember about a year ago the girls and I were at an event with Chris for his job. While he worked, we walked around to visit the many other businesses out there to see what goodies we could gather from each table. We came to a chiropractor table and of course they were offering free spinal evaluations (I hope I said that right...lol). I allowed the doc to check my spine and upon evaluation he mentioned that one of my discs was slightly out of place. I guess I looked a bit concerned cause he immediately began to reassure me that it was normal but just needed to be realigned. Boy did God begin to speak word to me about the realignment of our life and priorities, etc, etc, etc! But let me get back to what I found out from the doc before I get lost on another subject :) He continued to tell me that certain discs will affect certain areas of the body and that this particular disc was the one that affected the circulation in my arm and some other areas as well. What amazed me was that everything he was saying was true. I had just shared with my husband a couple of nights before that I couldn't sleep on my left side because every time I did my left arm would go numb within seconds. It was so strange. I completely understood the connection after speaking with the doctor. I was going to have to realign that disc or else it would continue to affect the other areas of my body that it was connected to. We must find our position in whatever it is that God has called us to do and we must stay there until he says move. If we don't and we step out of position (or alignment) then we affect those around us and cause more disruption to the body, team, or group that God has connected us to.
So first we must define our Identity, then discover our purpose. Then we will be able to find our position and operate in it to the fullest of our ability to help those around us discover their own Identity, Purpose and Position.
We will operate in our greatest potential when we know who we are, and truly know who we are in God.
I love this scripture and I shared it at the end of the previous post but I have to share it again. I pray it blesses you.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
