What Defines Me?

In the morning, long before the dawn, he got up and left the house, and went up to a lonely place and prayed there.  (Mark 1:35, CLB) 

What Defines Me?

I used to see a man who walked the streets in our small town square.  I was told that he was a homeless man, a very talented artist, but addicted to drugs.  I wondered what defined him—that he was homeless?  Or that he was an extremely talented artist?

I recently found two pieces of art at Goodwill to hang in my study.  They are portraits of Charleston natives.  One is a lady with a beautiful, loosely held bouquet.  The other is a mother with her child.  At my friend’s home, I saw similar portraits on her wall.  Having always admired that type artwork, I asked about it.  She had bought hers from an art gallery in Charleston.  When I checked further, they were all by the same artist.  Which determines their worth?  The Goodwill?  Or the Art Gallery?

My husband has been very successful in his profession.  But what defines me?  That I am the wife of a successful coach?  Or that I may struggle with a mental disorder for the rest of my life?

What defines you?  The fact that you are a very successful business person?  Or that you have an addiction?  That you have a clean house?  Obedient children?  Or that your marriage is falling apart?  That you are a great athlete?  Or that you don't have a date?  Maybe you have it all together and are in the dangerous place of thinking you can keep ahead of the game.  Make your life and the lives of those you love, work.

What happens to us when we get the praise of others?  Do we, all of a sudden, think we can conquer the world?  But is a little praise ever enough?  And when we feel low self-esteem, doesn’t pride, ironically, become our greatest enemy?

How about when we experience rejection, hurt, or disapproval?  Do we coil in a fetal position like a caterpillar, hiding in a cocoon, keeping the world at a distance either by our isolation or our busyness?  Not realizing that either way, as we distance others, we also distance God.

Christ busied Himself, then He sought solitude, and from that, His ministry was birthed again.  He was identified through His personal, alone time with His Father.  Henri Nouwen in “Out of Solitude” said, “Jesus went to a lonely place to pray, that is, to grow in the awareness that all the power he had was given to him; that all the words he spoke came from his Father; and that all the works he did were not really his but the works of the One who had sent him.”  It is not what we do, our successes or failures, which define us, he says, but what we have been given. 

We are created in God’s image, and Christ lives in us as the Father lives in Him.  We have the Spirit of the Father and Son living in us and yearning for intimate relationship.  We are valued because we are extremely loved by Him, and we belong to Him.  His desires become our desires.  His words become our words.  His works become our works.  His rest becomes our rest.  We are one.  He reveals this to me through His word, but also through solitude.  Being in His presence through His Spirit gives me security.  That defines me, and gives me purpose. 

Prayer:

May we not look for who we are anywhere, but in you.  When we find it there, Lord, it will be more than enough.