There are two types of crisis that we tend to go through as humans, an identity crisis usually when we are in our teens and a mid-life crisis when we reach middle age. I never expected to go through either, but that could well have been a part of my teenage arrogance…lol. So maybe that is why my identity crisis took me by surprise. My anthropology (etc.) textbook says that an identity crisis has two questions attached to it: “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose in life?” Tough questions to answer indeed.
I have many names, depending on who you are. No, that does not mean that I change how I act depending on the company I am in, it just means that I have been introduced to certain people by different names. If you have grown up with me, I am most often called Michael or Mike. At camp, I am Flippy. Depending on my friends, you may get different names. I have a short list of people that can call me one particular name, but I won’t get into that…
But the point is, none of that makes me me. If I wrap myself up in my name, what happens when I get a label I don’t like? Do I let my labels control me? Does that make sense? If I move past that, who I am becomes based on my relationships, especially my greatest relationship, the one I have with Christ. Then, who I am becomes what He wants me to be.
Following that thread, figuring out my purpose becomes a little easier. If I let Christ direct who I am, then I already have several purposes to fulfill. The next step is figuring out how to work at these.
Michael
By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28
