Normally I think about all that I am not.
I am not as good as the other girls with big, bright and shiny blogs.
I am not going to ever climb out of my own thoughts that hold me back.
I am not able to succeed because (insert some sort of limitation here).
I am not that great of a mom, I get frustrated too easily.
I am not close enough to my extended family.
I am not going to end up in a good place in that unknown future.
I am not going to end up with good results even if I try hard.
Why bother?!
Ever feel that way?
Then, I come up against God speaking these words to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM.” Ex. 3:14
God speaks with power. And, Moses is a man I like. I imagine him trying to do enough and be enough for his people. I imagine him, like me, probably not feeling all that great – and a whole truckload of doubtful that he’ll really succeed.
To stand against the heat of God’s fire like this – these words would shake me to the core. Not only because I hit up against the blazing hot power of God, but also because they mean something – and do something. They purify insecurities.
I AM WHO I AM.
He is who he says he is.
He will be the one he claims to be.
He is who he is.
These words give me confidence. Because often I tend to think, unknowingly, of the “God who is not”.
The god who is not coming through for me.
The god who is not keeping me happy.
The god who is not showing me all the time his ways.
I can try to hide these feelings under the guise of good-girl Christian (which always drops me off at the word – hypocrite), but I get somewhere when I turn to God and ask, “God, am I really good enough for you to take care of – dysfunctional ol’ me?”
He replies, “I AM WHO I AM.”
He is who he says he is.
He will be who he claims to be.
He is who he is.
He is – is good.
He is – truth.
He is – power.
He is – strength.
The devil says who I am not, God says who I am.
Flesh says who I can’t be, God says who I will be in him.
Shame says I am bad, God says I am loved.
Lies speak demise, God says, “Rise.”
Will I believe?
God doesn’t waver. He is not a man that he should fall and skin his knee, he is a king. He doesn’t erase the cross of grace, he died on it to secure eternity for us. He doesn’t delete the signature of our name from his hand, he holds it close to his heart that always beats for us. He doesn’t take back is callings for our lives, he predestines them for us.
He sends us out in unerasable truth:
And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the Israelites…What shall I say to them?
And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you! Ex.3:13-14
He sends us out in his love, power and armor. It moves us forward.
Every single time he is at work to bless us.
Every single time he is at work to pave a way for us.
Every single time he is at work to make us more holy.
Every single time he is at work to work in us.
Every single time he is at work to draw us closer to power of his love.
I AM WHO I AM.
He is who he says he is.
He will be who he claims to be.
He is who he is.
Will we believe – He will do what he said he will do?