Who Are You?

Do you ever ask God " Who am I? What is my purpose?"

Moses did. In Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

 Who am I?

King David asked God the same thing and David was a great king over a wealthy nation. 

2 Samuel 7:18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?"

Who am I?

What if Moses had asked his adoptive mother? I think she might have said "Oh Moses, you are the baby I found abandoned in the river. " Was that Moses identity? the abandoned baby? 

Or what if David had asked his father Jesse. His father would have told him he was the youngest son. The son who was a shepherd, not a soldier. 

If David had asked his elder brother Eliab? He told David to go back to the sheep in 1 Samuel 17:28.

David didn't ask King Saul, but Saul told him  “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

David had it right, He asked God. " who am I"?

When is the last time you asked God " Who am I"?

Why is it we ask family and friends for our identities? Shouldn't we be asking God who we are? Do you think maybe the reason so many of us do not have an identity is because we have failed to ask God? 

What if Moses and David had just listened to family? 

Do you think Moses would have led his people out of slavery? Do you think David would have killed Goliath or become a great king? I think not. 

Dear Lord, Who am I? How do I fit into your divine plan? What purpose have you designed for me? 

I Can't Get No... Satisfaction

I know you remember the Old Testament story of Rachel and Leah.

These competitive sisters were married to the same man. Thank Jesus we don't still have this custom today! I don't know about you, but I don't share that well, and neither did Rachel or Leah.

Now Rachel had it all. She was the Beauty Queen of Haren, her home town. Genesis 29:16 says that Rachel was the youngest sister and was lovely in form and beautiful. However, we are only told that Leah, the older sister had weak eyes. I imagine she had frown lines from squinting. Most guys aren't going to be attracted by a myopic frowny faced squinty eyed girl.  In fact, Jacob cried when he first met Rachel then agreed to work for her daddy for 7 years for her hand in marriage, then when he got tricked into marrying her squinty eyed elder sister, he actually agreed to work another 7 years for her. 

So Rachel was the pretty  best loved sister, but was that enough for her? NO! She was so jealous that her sister gave Jacob 4 babies that she whined and demanded of her husband " give me children or else I die" Genesis 30:1 in other words. " I would rather be dead than not have children like my sister". Here she had beauty and her husbands love, but she still wanted what her sister had. 

Now one day, Leahs eldest son Reuben brought his mother home some Mandrake he had found. In those days, mandrake was considered to be a treatment for infertility. Rachel saw the mandrake and coveted it. So she asks Leah for the mandrake. Leah asks her sister Genesis 30:5 " wasn't it enough you took my husband, now you want my sons mandrake?"  Rachel, barters a night in bed with their husband for the mandrake. But God is not mocked, it wasn't in his plan for Lovely Rachel to bear babies yet. But Leah, who didn't have the mandrake had 2 more children with Jacob. go figure!

Goes to show, you might as well trust in God, not in your own manipulation.

Poor Leah, when she bore the 6th son, she thought Jacob would now love her saying Genesis 30:20 "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor"

I don't know about you, but my heart breaks for poor unloved Leah

Finally after Leah has had 7 children, God decided it was time for Rachel to have a son. and do you know how she reacted? she named him Joseph, which means " He will add" and proclaimed "May the Lord add to me another son!"

Was Leah grateful for her beauty? Was she thankful she was beloved by her husband? Was she appreciative that she finally had a beautiful bouncing baby boy? NO! she wasn't! She immediately asked for more! 

Ya think God knew what He as doing in withholding children from Rachel? I do. She died giving birth to her 2nd son, whom she named Ben-oni or Son of my Sorrow.  What a selfish ungrateful shrew! When she had her first son she screeched "Give me more" now she gets what she wants and she tags her infant with such a dreadful name? Good thing Jacob had the sense to re-name the kid Benjamin or Son of my Right Hand 

Maybe she should have stopped along the way and just been satisfied.  I think it ironic, she had her husbands love til his last breath, yet she was unable to just enjoy it because she always wanted what someone else had. 

Are you like Rachel asking for more instead of enjoying the gifts you have been given? 

Could it be that our problems such as loneliness, depression or conflict in our lives stems from discontent. Are you always thinking " If I only had that, if only................? 

Stop for a moment and think of all the good things you have in your life. A loving spouse, children who honor you, a job that puts food in your mouth, a roof over your head... go ahead.. number them as the song says.  if it means every day you need to write down 10 blessings to remind you not to be whiny and ungrateful.. then do it! 

Don't like your job? at least you have one, many don't. The creak in your knees making you unhappy? at least you have legs to creak. The wrinkles in your face got you singing the blues?  you lived long enough to smile those wrinkles in to place and had enough suns in your life to squint those crows feet into place. 

so quit your whining and sing along with me.... :)

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

• Refrain:
  Count your blessings, name them one by one,
  Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
  Count your blessings, name them one by one,
  *Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Dear Lord, thank you for everything you do for me daily. for the roof over my head and the food in my stomach.

Thank you I have a job and am able to pay my bills. Thank you for loving friends and for my health.

Most of all Dear Jesus, thank you for dying for me

Please help me to remember I really have it good compared to many.

men

Keep your eyes on Jesus

I am a certified diver and enjoy diving but I am also a lousy sailor. I remember attempting a dive many years ago in the Gulf of Mexico off Ft. Meyers. The ocean was choppy that day and I promptly got sea sick. 
When the rest of the group dove, I opted to stay on the boat and fight that queazy feeling.


The captain of the boat took pity on me and advised me to keep my eyes on the mountains in the distance. When I looked at that choppy sea in front of me, I was so sick all I wanted to do was get off the boat. But when I kept my eyes on that distant mountain on the horizon i felt better and more able to cope until the others returned from their dive and i could get on dry stable land.


Remember when Peter walked on the water to Christ? He did just fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, but as soon as he started paying attention to the boisterous wind, Peter became afraid and started to sink. 


Philippians 3:13-16 ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.


I think Paul had it right, he forgot what was behind him and strained towards what was ahead of him.
Pauls message is to keep your eyes on Jesus and not what is around us, or what happened in the past. 


Don't focus on your past.. it is just that, the past. Don't focus on the drama going on around you, in the scheme of things, it doesn't matter and too will soon be past. .. keep your eyes on the Jesus and press on