Even a Broken Pot Has its Uses (Or Borne in Identity)

Hello everyone!

It's a surprise to be writing this so soon after the last one, but then the last post was an impromptu one that I never anticipated.

Today, I want to take a quick look at identity & how it can shape us for the better or for the worse.

Before I do that, I want you to be thinking about what it means for you to have an identity...

Borne in Identity, Raised in the Fire

Identity.

We each have one when we are born and it is identical, one to another, it is only as we grow up and are shaped by our environment and the people in our lives that it becomes clear just what our strengths and weaknesses are. Also, it's at this point that we begin to respond to our environment, or react to it, depending on the circumstances.

Take me, for instance, at school I was more interested in getting the grades than I was the girls (ED - he'd probably slap me for saying this, but think of the guys in The Big Bang Theory & you're on the right track!) and it was that which, naturally, one or two of the kids took an exception to as I never really was one of the "cool" kids, whatever that even means these days.

For anyone to call me names now is irrelevant because that was my childhood and I've long since come to terms with having to own it. As you can imagine though, it did a number on my identity, a real number. This is something that only this past year or two have I been able to come to terms with as to just what sort of damage it had done because of the way I'd reacted to it.

You see, one of the best bits of advice I've got from recent times is to not react to situations or people, but to respond to them.

A reaction often is born in the heat of the moment where we say things we think we don't mean but on some level part of us actually does or else we wouldn't have said them in the first place. The reality is that this is because we knew, deep down, that in that moment it would hurt them and that's what our sin nature wants all the time; to hurt, maim & wound with our words and our actions.

In the Bible, there are countless stories of how people's identity was hidden, changed, or used in such a way that you would never know that how they finished their race was not how they started it.

• Moses? A murderer (Exodus 2:11-15);

• David? An adulterer and a murderer (2 Samuel 11); and

• Paul the Apostle? A mass murderer (Acts 22:1-16)

Those are just some of the examples of how God can use even the most lurid circumstances and turn them around for His glory.

Turning it about face, let's have a look at a sample of how these people were used by God: -

• Moses? Used by God to deliver the law on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20);

• David? Appointed king of Judah despite being a shepherd boy when he was younger (2 Samuel 2); and

• Paul the Apostle? Wrote most of the New Testament letters to the churches

Despite their chequered past, these three individuals are just a sample of the characters that God used in mighty, mighty ways to get His will done.

In reality, then, it almost doesn't matter how bad you think you are because God can and will still use you today, all you have to do is to trust Him!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) emphasis mine

Final Thought

Never, ever discount what you bring to the table in any situation because you are underestimating who God made you to be when you do that. I used to think that having no experience as a boyfriend would make me less of a man to whoever liked me enough to want to be in a relationship with me.

Now?

Now, I'm ready to smash down doors, break down walls, bust arms & legs wide open (ED - sorry he's so graphic, but when he gets fired up about this, that's what happens!), all to protect the honour of my fair maiden, wherever she is.

While I might not agree with the line "a distant stranger I will complete" in the next song I'm posting because that goes against everything I stand for as we are to complement each other, not complete one another, I do agree however, that I hope she keeps her head down and makes it to me!

You see, God has set me out on a course that I cannot escape from, I might as well just embrace it. For it is in the embracing of who I am that I can embrace fully who God is through me!

I am here to see what God can do through me!

Peace!