The majority of us would avoid describing ourselves using height and weight (gulp!). Perhaps you would use your eye or hair color, or what you do for a living to tell people about you.
More often than not we describe ourselves by who we are related to. If I described myself by my relationships I would be Glenn & Susan's daughter, Gail, Monica, Doug, Greg & Keith's sister, Galen's wife and Emily, Rachel & Cameron's Mom. A rather long description if I were to do the entire spiel!
If you disconnected yourself from all of your assorted relational and work connections, who are you?
Are you drawing a blank? Is the mental picture of losing all those connections making your stomach churn? As I typed the sentence I imagined each connecting identifier as a cable of sorts and when they were all disconnected it was like mental free-fall. Uncomfortable enough even in my imagination that I had to walk away from this blog entry for a few days. Who are you? Who am I?
It really isn't that far fetched to find yourself disconnected to how you currently identify yourself. Marriages fail, spouses pass away, children grow up and jobs change. I read a newspaper article about a woodworker who had gone to a neighboring town to sell his wares. While he was away there was an explosion at his house, destroying his home, his wood shop and killing his entire family. Everything he loved and every earthly connection he had was gone in a instant. Can you imagine him questioning his very identity during his grief?
If we have no blood family we do have our family of Christian brothers and sisters. Galatians 6:10 calls us to do good to one another as a family of believers. We have God our Father who, "... adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--(Ephesians 1:5). Through Jesus we are truly become God's children.
Our earthly home may be not all we want it to be, but we have the promise of a mansion in heaven. Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2), And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. " (John 14:3) Jesus himself is preparing our eternal dwelling, can you even imagine how glorious it will be?
We have Christian family and we have the sure promise of a new home, but what of love? John 1:4 tells us that God is love and the 32nd Psalm says the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. We simply trust in Him who has proven over and over to be faithful and just and He in turn surrounds us with His unfailing love. Pretty good deal if you ask me.
What is even more amazing is nothing we can do and no force of evil can come between us and the God who loves us. One of my favorite sections of scripture comes from Romans chapter 8:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD.You have a savior who promises to never let you go, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:28). You are never alone, God himself is holding you in the palm of His hand and surrounding you with His love. Even if everything else in this world collapses and every human you have ever put your trust in has failed you - God will be there. He is holding you in the palm of His hand and all you have to do is trust Him.
You are His child.
In His Peace -
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