Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
One morning I was reading a devotional book by Sheila Walsh*. She wrote about a time in her life many years ago when she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital because of depression. The doctor asked her who she was. She replied with her name. Again, he asked her who she was, and this time she named her career. The third time he asked who she was, she whispered, “I don’t know.”
We don’t have to suffer from depression to struggle with knowing who we are. How do we identify ourselves? Is it by what we do for a living or who we are as a person? In this craziness called life, we wear multiple “hats” and juggle numerous tasks. We are so busy doing that we forget to just “be”.
Or perhaps the present moment isn’t the issue. Maybe it’s the past. Is there a mistake from your past that haunts you years later, that somehow defines who you are? Regrets, those “if only” moments we wish we could change, do not have to define us. Our past is but one chapter in our life. What we take with us from the past shapes our future. We have more control over what shapes our future than we realize. Take the good, healthy parts of the past into the future, but give the regretful past its proper place and leave it there, in the past.
2 Corinthians 5:17 is a hopeful verse that speaks to who we are in Christ. Believing that Jesus Christ saved us from all our past, present, and future mistakes, including our regrets, sets us free to be made new. Jesus transforms us into who He wants us to be, who He created us to be. In this present and future place, we are free to take on His character, to be more like Him.
How often do you take a moment to not “do” but to just “be”? When do you check in with yourself and explore your passions, dreams, and desires? Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still and know that God is God. When we still the inner chatter, we can hear God’s whisper. We can discern His calling to perhaps step out onto a new path and try something new, to become the best of who we are. Romans 12:2 says we are to test and approve what God’s will is. Testing implies stepping out in faith and turning doorknobs to see which doors open to us.
What defines you? Who I am in Christ defines me. I am also the sum total of my passions, dreams, and desires, along with the talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts which God has given me. Acknowledging that my faith, my love for my children and extended family, the desire to experience deep friendships, the strive for excellence in whatever I do, my appreciation for the arts, my passion for travel, my sense of humor, all define me. For me, my “still” moments have often come while traveling. It is in those moments of stepping out of fear and into a new culture without all the familiar props that I become face-to-face with my real myself. That's when I know who I am. But more importantly, I know whose I am.
At the end of Sheila’s story, as she leaves the hospital, the doctor asks her again, “Who are you?” Sheila replies confidently that she is Sheila Walsh and she is a daughter of the King of Kings. We, too, can say with confidence that we are children of the King of Kings. We are a new creation in Christ. The old has gone and the new has come. As we begin a new year, may we be still long enough to hear God’s whispers of love to us, calling us to leave our past behind and to embrace a new chapter in life, to shed regrets of the past, and to step out into a new future. Praise be to God!
God, you are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. May you quiet me with Your love as I take time out of a busy schedule to seek Your face. Show me the way I should go and who you want me to be along the way. Make me more like Jesus every day. Amen.
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Text and photograph copyright © 2017 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of tulip from Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
* Sheila Walsh, 5 Minutes with Jesus: Making Today Matter, published by Thomas Nelson, 2015.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
One morning I was reading a devotional book by Sheila Walsh*. She wrote about a time in her life many years ago when she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital because of depression. The doctor asked her who she was. She replied with her name. Again, he asked her who she was, and this time she named her career. The third time he asked who she was, she whispered, “I don’t know.”
We don’t have to suffer from depression to struggle with knowing who we are. How do we identify ourselves? Is it by what we do for a living or who we are as a person? In this craziness called life, we wear multiple “hats” and juggle numerous tasks. We are so busy doing that we forget to just “be”.
Or perhaps the present moment isn’t the issue. Maybe it’s the past. Is there a mistake from your past that haunts you years later, that somehow defines who you are? Regrets, those “if only” moments we wish we could change, do not have to define us. Our past is but one chapter in our life. What we take with us from the past shapes our future. We have more control over what shapes our future than we realize. Take the good, healthy parts of the past into the future, but give the regretful past its proper place and leave it there, in the past.
2 Corinthians 5:17 is a hopeful verse that speaks to who we are in Christ. Believing that Jesus Christ saved us from all our past, present, and future mistakes, including our regrets, sets us free to be made new. Jesus transforms us into who He wants us to be, who He created us to be. In this present and future place, we are free to take on His character, to be more like Him.
How often do you take a moment to not “do” but to just “be”? When do you check in with yourself and explore your passions, dreams, and desires? Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still and know that God is God. When we still the inner chatter, we can hear God’s whisper. We can discern His calling to perhaps step out onto a new path and try something new, to become the best of who we are. Romans 12:2 says we are to test and approve what God’s will is. Testing implies stepping out in faith and turning doorknobs to see which doors open to us.
What defines you? Who I am in Christ defines me. I am also the sum total of my passions, dreams, and desires, along with the talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts which God has given me. Acknowledging that my faith, my love for my children and extended family, the desire to experience deep friendships, the strive for excellence in whatever I do, my appreciation for the arts, my passion for travel, my sense of humor, all define me. For me, my “still” moments have often come while traveling. It is in those moments of stepping out of fear and into a new culture without all the familiar props that I become face-to-face with my real myself. That's when I know who I am. But more importantly, I know whose I am.
At the end of Sheila’s story, as she leaves the hospital, the doctor asks her again, “Who are you?” Sheila replies confidently that she is Sheila Walsh and she is a daughter of the King of Kings. We, too, can say with confidence that we are children of the King of Kings. We are a new creation in Christ. The old has gone and the new has come. As we begin a new year, may we be still long enough to hear God’s whispers of love to us, calling us to leave our past behind and to embrace a new chapter in life, to shed regrets of the past, and to step out into a new future. Praise be to God!
God, you are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. May you quiet me with Your love as I take time out of a busy schedule to seek Your face. Show me the way I should go and who you want me to be along the way. Make me more like Jesus every day. Amen.
Want to subscribe to future posts? Click here.
Text and photograph copyright © 2017 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of tulip from Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
* Sheila Walsh, 5 Minutes with Jesus: Making Today Matter, published by Thomas Nelson, 2015.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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