After attending a Father Heart Conference this past weekend God gave me a bit of revelation on some things and one of those is the idea of consequences of mistaken identity. The speaker at the conference kept saying how we are Daddy’s (God the Father) little boy, that we are all his sons and daughters and that is who we are. We may sing or preach or lead worship or do all kinds of things for God but who we are and what we do are two different things.
This isn’t a new concept for me, however, I started thinking about what are the consequences when you place your identity in what you do as opposed to your sonship or daughtership to the Father. God showed me that one of the consequences is complete emotional instability as well as a lack of true security. When someone places their identity in what they do then in means who they are can change because what you do can change.
I knew a preacher who was a really good preacher. He was a frequent evangelist at the church where I was spiritually raised. He was a preaching machine! He would light up the room! I always enjoyed his preaching. Then one day I find out that he got cancer or something serious and his voice box had to be removed. He would never be able to preach again. It was a very sad thing and I felt so bad for him, I would truly miss his preaching.
It was hard for him of course but in less than a year he had started a business and was working hard. After being a full time evangelist, he and his family settled into a good church and there they have been serving faithfully ever since. As far as I know he is happy and God is using him in other ways besides preaching. He seemed to know who he was. When he could go no longer preach he continued loving and serving God.
There was a time in my life when I believed that who I was what I was called to do. But through the Father’s love I have learned very differently. I have learned that God forbid if my voice box had to be taken out and I could never preach again, it will have no effect on who I am, only what I do.
I understand even more than ever the importance of this truth. Because if you place your identity in what you do, then who you are has no stability, no security. If for some reason you are not able to continue doing that then you will have not only lost your occupation but you would have lost you, the very core of who you are. The consequence of a mistaken identity is you can never feel secure. You will be afraid of failure, of not doing what you do well enough because if you fail you will lose everything – you will lose you. But when your identity is as a son or daughter of God, then nothing can change that – NOTHING.
If you lose your voice box, you are still a child of God. If you are a pastor and your church fails, you are still a child of God. If you are a businessman and your business fail, you are still a child of God. If your husband or wife leaves you, you are still a child of God. If a hurricane blows your house away, you are still of child of God. There is nothing that anyone can do or say that can take that away from you. There is a peace that comes with that that can not be had when we mistake ourselves for something else other than a son or daughter of God.
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