Today’s Daily Bread ~ Identity Crisis

1 John 3:1 – See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don’t know God, so they don’t understand that we are His children.

When you meet someone for the first time, a natural question that always comes up is, “so, what do you do?”  I always give a three-fold answer: “Well, I’m a wife and mother first.  I author a daily devotional on a website called, ‘Love, Serve, Shine,’ and I also work at a radio station.”  I get that glazed-over-pretending-to-be-interested look until I hit answer number three.  Then, eyebrows usually go up, and all of the sudden I rank as a person-worthy-of-conversing with.  It never ceases to disappoint me.  I’m more than my job…much more.

The radio industry has been a casualty of today’s economy.  Or perhaps of technology.  Either way, I’ve had a lot of conversations with fallen comrades over the last two years.  Amazing, talented individuals, once making a nice living in an industry chock full of perks, now limping along wondering what in the world they’ll do, now that their industry is almost non-existent.

The lesson I’ve learned while witnessing this career slaughter is this: when we let what we do define who we are, we will fall victim to life’s inevitable circumstances. 

By the nature of my job, I meet people of some sort of notoriety every now and then.  I’ve generalized them into two categories:
 
Category one: The Self Consumed.  When you ask a SC how they are and what they’re up to, it always revolves around their accomplishments and things they’re working on.  A typical answer is, “Man, just lovin’ life on the road, you know? There’s just nothing better than walking out on that stage, hearing the roar of the crowd, listening them sing your songs word for word. Got the new album coming out…and we think that’s really gonna take things to the next level.”

Category two: The Terry Bradshaws: I’ll never forget when Terry Bradshaw came in one morning to hang out on the show.  He talked about a bible study he was doing, and what his family was up to.  We could scarcely get him to talk about himself, because he simply isn’t self absorbed.  He was more interested in others.

At the end of the day, which category will be more likely to roll with life’s punches when life punches them in the nose? 

Before I joined the Dorsey Gang, I worked at another radio station doing the night show.  My hours were 7-11pm.  I had the entire day to devote myself to other things.  No husband or kids…just hours and hours of availability.  And do you know what I did?  I got up, watched The View, ate breakfast, hit the gym, made lunch, laid out (weather permitting), thought about how depressed I was, and then went to work.  I was absolutely miserable.  I had no purpose whatsoever aside from my four-hour-a-day job.  Can you imagine what would’ve happened to me it I lost it?  It would’ve shattered me.  Just like it’s shattered so many of my colleagues these past few years.

God gives us work to do.  He designed us to work.  The second Adam opened his eyes God started him on his very first job – naming the animals.  But God doesn’t define us by what we do.  Over and over again in Scripture he defines us as His children, made in His image, made righteous by the blood of His Son…not the sweat of our brow.

1 John 3:2 – Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when He comes we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is.

When my sisters and I were very young, daddy coming home was always a big event.  Until he drove into the garage, we did a lot of things to pass the time, and dress up was always a favorite.  We would put on plays, musicals, play house or school, each taking turns at parent/teacher and children/students.  But when our father came home, we would abandon our roles and leap into his arms.  We loved playing, but we never took on the characters as our identity.  We were our parents’ children, and that was enough.  We were secure in that, and that alone. 

Why does God want us so deeply rooted in Him?  Because He has always been, and always will be.  Revelation 22:13 – “I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” What are you rooted in?  Children grow up, marriages dissolve, people pass away, jobs vanish and beauty fades.  Jesus tells us in the gospel of Luke, “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever (Luke 21:33).”

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray today that Your Word would take root in our hearts.  It’s hard not to be consumed by this world when this world is all we see.  But You tell us to live by faith, not by sight.  Sharpen our spiritual vision, Lord, so we might see you everywhere we look.  Never let us forget that above all else, we are children of the Most High God, and citizens of Heaven.  Please convict us to act accordingly, Lord.  Help us to live in such a way that we are always witnessing, always pointing toward You.  We love You so much, and we thank You for the marvelous work on the cross.  We ask these things in Jesus’ name, and we praise You, Father.  Amen.