We all go through a process in life of learning who we are. It’s kind of a funny concept. You would think that nobody knows ourselves better than we do, but a lot of the time it feels quite the opposite. As we journey through life and go through different experiences we begin to pick up bits and pieces of our “identity.”
So how do we go about finding the different pieces of this puzzle?
For me, my puzzle is far from complete but I have found some pieces over the past couple of years as well as some pieces that I thought belonged in the puzzle but really didn’t fit.
There are pieces that I have found:
That I am driven by purpose and adventure.
That God has blessed me with many strengths and gifts.
That being a son of God is the only validation I need.
That I’m far from perfect and I’m never going to “have it all figured out.”
(This is a realization has actually brought me peace because coming to terms with it means I can let quit trying to have it all together.)
& there are some pieces that I have thrown away:
That I defined by coming from an upper class family.
The idea that emotions are a sign of weakness.
That my performance in good works determines how much God approves of me.
These pieces didn’t just come overnight though. It is a slow process. Through my experiences though I have found that there have been 3 key factors in discovering who God made me to be.
1. Stepping outside my comfort zone. Yea, I traveled around the world last year and experienced different cultures. It wasn’t all golden paths and rainbows though. The World Race was a stretching experience that was always pushing me farther than I wanted to go on my own. Whether it was speaking in front of a crowds, letting teammates see my insecurities, looking into the eyes of broken people, sleeping on floors for months at a time, praying for miracles, jumping off a cliff, or just dealing with every day awkward situations that came from language barriers… there was always something pushing on the comfortable walls I had around me.
2. Encouragement. Community was the best and hardest part of the Race. After a year of 24/7 living together you really start to feel like a family and well… families get irritated with one another every now in then. At the end of the day though it was who I went with (and for), not where I went that was most important. A huge part of my growth over the last couple years have been from my Global LEAD, World Race, and CGA communities pouring into me. Through their encouragement I have grown in the gifts and talents that God has given me and been pushed by them to be a man of character and greatness.
3. Discovering how God sees me. Most of all, learning who God says I am has been the most pivotal to my growth the past couple of years. Learning what it means for me to be his son and him my father… and that there is nothing that I can do to disappoint him or stop him from loving me. This revelation has changed the way I see myself, my life, and God. It is a revelation that didn’t come from a book or sermon, but getting out there and experiencing him myself.
Looking back a couple years ago I can say that I have grown from a boy to a man. From who I thought I was supposed to be to who I am. This journey is far from over though and I know that there are still many pieces of the puzzle out there for me to uncover during the rest of my lifetime. I look forward to this journey though because even though it will continue to be challenging, I know he’ll be will be with me and that I will come out closer to being the man of God that I was created to be.
