My Identity this Past Week

Just Thoughts: The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers - Unknown

For me, this past week was a very special week. My daughter turned 6 years old, then there was Valentine's Day ... and then overall, my 9 year anniversary with my wife. I felt many different emotions in just a few days like joy, happiness, romance and love, but one feeling that stuck out this week was sadness. Now you may think to yourself, why did you feel sadness, while having such a memorable week with your loved ones?? You see, many don't understand that being a Youth Pastor is a 24 hour, 7 days a week ministry. You have to be available at all times to reach young people that are in need. This is a choice I made from a demand that God put upon me and my family. You see the sadness came from hearing about a young person I care for, wanting to end their life. Here I am celebrating milestones in my life, while another person contemplates suicide. While I pray and thank God at night for my day and for all my blessings, another person prays to God believing that He doesn't hear them. 

I turned to the word of God and found that many men and women from the bible faced overwhelming depression, at times not wanting to live anymore. I read how David was an emotional roller-coaster, always going up and down. 

Read Psalm 13: 1-4

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light  to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

Here we read that David is calling out to God for help and feels that God does not hear his call. David was perhaps asking for restoration or may have been seeking God's help for a military victory, but many people today can identify themselves with everything that David was saying. How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? We struggle with everyday life. We struggle with the choices we have to make.  We struggle with the consequences. We struggle with the pressures of school, work, and church. We struggle with who we are in Christ. We struggle with our identity. 

You see God calls us His chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9) The problem with many Christians today is they don't realize who they are in Christ. If all Christians truly understood their identity, then any issue that comes against them will be brushed aside like dust. When a Christian is a sure-Christian, the enemy trembles and has no weapon. God declares it that way. We need to seek God and his understanding so that we can get over the problems and issues we face day to day. You see David knew his identity. 

Continue reading Psalm 13: 5-6

5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing the Lord's praise, for he has been good to me. 

As David gradually worked through his issues, he returned to his confidence in God. He knew that he had to continue his course in life, because what awaited him was something greater. I believe that God has something greater for you, because in such sad moments, we are likely to step out in faith and believe what the word of God says, that no weapon formed against you will prevail. What we go through is something temporary and when we make the decision to praise Him through our storms, that's when we experience the break-through. My identity this week consisted of being a father and a loving husband, and a concerned Youth Pastor. Think to yourself, "Who am I?" "What is my true identity?" 

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" - John 1:12

Just my thoughts ... You are somebody.

Be blessed,

Pastor Andres