Identity Shift (Part 2) - #015

A shorter episode this week! We'll be back in full-swing next week—we hope you find this renewing and refreshing! 

Transcript

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Hey guys, welcome back to the Pockets of Paradise podcast. This is Megan Tedder and I am so missing my sidekick, Larson Griffith, today, but she will be picking back up with me next episode. So do not worry, she will not be gone long. But I am going to be carrying on our little series on identity and identity in Christ. And I'm so excited about this series because I believe it speaks to everyone in different ways. And there's different angles that we're going to be approaching it that I see often in Christian counseling and in my own life with people I know and love and my own story. So I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions or you would like to give any input, any feedback, we'd love to hear from you, good or bad. We love correct criticism too. Feel free to put comments in the box uh below, and we would love to chat with you and just connect with you and see what you're wanting to hear more of or less of. So uh that being said, today we're gonna kind of go into a little bit more of identity, and we're gonna talk about Abram and Sarai, uh, who later turned into Abraham and Sarah. And um this story is a miracle, it's remarkable, and it just is a reflection of God's heart. Um, our God is sovereign and he has a plan and he knows the beginning to the end and the end of the beginning. He's outside of time, and he is weaving together this incredible love story um in the middle of a war zone that we all get to be a part of. And um it's the more I study his character, the more in awe I am of him and and his heart, and and the more I just trust him because he's got it under control. And this is one of those stories. So um it's in the book of Genesis. So I would love for you to go read the story yourself, but I'm just gonna kind of be give you the Sparks Notes version of it in order to have the conversation about identity that I want to have today. Um, but Abram was 75 years old, and his wife was also old, and they were out of what the world would say childbearing age should be. And God told Abraham that he was going to be um the father of of many nations. Um, he told him that he was going to have children, he told him that he was going to have children as many as the stars in the sky. Um he told him things that were absolutely impossible in his mind and heart into the world, and he prophesied over him, and he changed his name um before he changed him. And I think so often as Christians we get caught up in what is my calling? What is my calling? What is my calling? What is my purpose? And all of us Christians have the same calling, and it's to follow him, to follow Jesus and to get closer to him. And as we get closer to him, we become who he made us to be and we find our purpose. And each purpose is unique, and each season the purpose can change. Um, but I oftentimes talk to, especially young men right now, women too, but young men in my counseling office have a lot of pressure on them to know what to do, uh, right? Like, so like what should I do with my career? I need to do X, Y, and Z to make sure I'm able to hold myself up to these standards. And um, they want the end goal and they don't always see the grind it takes to get to the end goal, and they get very frustrated and down on themselves. And our uh culture is not very kind to men all the time right now. And so um there's a lot going on in these young men's minds and hearts and what their calling is and what their purpose is and how to pursue it and how to be a man, and and especially a Christ-following man. And so I actually had a conversation recently with one of my clients who is in the season right now, and he's like, I just I wish God would tell me what my calling is. I feel like I'd have so much peace if I know what my calling is. And um I said, Well, the calling is the same for all of us, and the primary calling is to follow Jesus, um, and he transforms you on the way. And the Bible says that he has a lamp into our feet and a light into our path. And when you're holding a lamp, like an old, I imagine like an old oil lamp walking down a path and a dark wooded area, it's not gonna illuminate the whole forest. It illuminates the next step. And the Lord doesn't always give you the whole roadmap, but he gives you the next step. And if you're walking with him, he's gonna walk with you step in step, and ultimately he illuminates your path by doing so. And so our calling as Christians is to lean into the Lord and to follow Jesus, get to know him. Um, and then our secondary calling, as we follow him, as we learn his character, as we learn who we are in him, which is what this whole conversation is about, then we begin to explore our God-given gifts and we get to see with fresh eyes the opportunity that God lays before us all the time. Um and the circumstances that he puts us in to serve God and to serve others and to give him glory. Um, and so often I ask, you know, my younger peers who have these questions of like, well, I don't, I just don't know if God's really given me any circumstances. I don't really know if I'm able to do X, Y, and Z for the Lord. I just don't, I just don't know what my calling is, what my purpose is. And it goes back to that. And I say, well, are you being bold? Are you listening? Are you willing to make yourself uncomfortable? Are you putting yourself out there? Are you leaving your house? Are you off your phone? Are you walking around in public with your nose in your phone? Are you looking people in the eye? Are you are you walking around looking for opportunities to speak life into people? Because if you're looking, you'll find them. Um and so I just want to encourage the listener before we even really get into the story of Abra Abraham and Sarah. Um, you, if you are a child of God, your main calling in life is to be a friend of Jesus, and the rest will come after that. Um, it's real simple. And the truth is always simple, but almost never easy. So, um, but it's refreshing. And so I just wanted to encourage whoever's listening today that you know your calling if you're a child of Christ and it's just to follow him. Okay. So um what I love about the story about Abraham and Sarah is that ultimately they end up having a baby in their old age, and this baby ends up being the forefather of Israel, right? The Lord putting his plan into motion through this family, through this prophecy over this miracle conception. Um and the way he does this is he changes this man's name. And um what I love is that God called Abraham before he changed him. He's and he told him to go from your country, your people, and your father's household to the land I will show you. So he had to uproot everything he had ever known, everything he'd ever placed his identity in, and trust the Lord in his old age. He was probably pretty comfortable where he was, but he had to trust the Lord and move. And at this point, his name was Abram. He wasn't Abraham yet, and he hadn't seen the promises fulfilled. He wasn't the father of a great nation yet. And yet God taught him based on what God was going to do through him. Um, and so often God will ask us to do things that don't make sense to us in the moment, but our obedience is what leads us to seeing the fulfillment of his purpose in us. Um, so if the Lord is telling you to do something crazy, listen. Don't miss out on why he made you. Um and then God changed his name to match his calling, which I love. So years later, God reaffirmed his covenant and changed Abram's name. And he said, No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. Abram means exalted father, and Abraham means father of many nations. And there's so much power in a name. And like I said last episode, when God says something, it is so. He cannot lie. He's not just saying things to flatter you. When he says you are his chosen, you are his chosen, period, whether you feel like it or not. When he told Abraham, you were no longer Abram, you are now Abraham, which means the father of many nations, it became so. And what's remarkable is that God gave Abraham the name before his son was even born. So God spoke identity over Abraham before Abraham could even see the evidence of it. Um and so often God does things in reverse because if I mean, what what good is faith if you don't need it, right? And how sweet is the story that he got to watch it unfold and trust God out of it and take him as a at his word. And what I love too is that they changed God changed Sarah's name too. Um so he said in Genesis 17, 15, as for Sarah, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai, her name will be Sarah. While the meanings are similar, Sarai means princess. The change signifies that her role was expanding from being a princess within a family to becoming the matriarch of nations. And then God says, I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her. So Sarah's identity was tied directly to God's promise and calling on her life. Um, which is just amazing. And as I'm reading this story and kind of talking over this, I want you to think about what names is God speaking over you? Or do you even know yet? What can you be excited about hearing from the Lord? Because he is speaking a name that is specific and special to you. Um, and you find that by walking with Jesus and leaning into him and allowing him to to redefine who you are. Um so the connection between identity and calling, there's a pattern. So the pattern is first God gives a promise and then God changed their identity, and then God fulfilled the calling. I love how it all it's all God. Like very little of it, little of it has anything to do with us. Our job is to obey. And he does the rest. He gets the glory for using us little vessels. He doesn't need us. Like he, if that's what's amazing to me, is if I told him no, he would still figure out a way to fulfill his per his will, right? But I don't want to say no. I don't want to miss anything. I don't want to miss being a part of this epic story. And so know his promises from scripture, study them. That's a we talked a little bit about that last time too. And then allow him to change your identity and align yourself with the truth about who you are and those core beliefs, like we talked about last week. And then allow God to fulfill the calling he has placed on you in that moment, right? So the calling is to walk with the Lord, but as you walk with him, you find your purpose. Um, but what I love is that the name change comes before the fulfillment. So it's so important to know who you are in Christ, not who someone said you are, not what has happened to you, not the many hats you wear and roles you play, but who are you when all those things are stripped away and the Lord is looking at his child? Who does he say that you are? And how do we believe that and live that? Um, so God didn't wait for Abraham to become the father of many nations before calling him Abraham. He didn't wait for Sarah to bear a child before declaring her the mother of nations. God often speaks to us according to who we are becoming, not merely who we are today, because God is outside of time and he already knows. Isn't that amazing? Like I you can't even wrap your head around that. Paul writes, God calls into being things that were not. In fact, Paul uses Abraham's story to illustrate this very truth. Um, before God changed Abraham's circumstances, he changed Abraham's identity. Before God fulfilled the promise, he gave Abraham and Sarah names that reflected his purpose for them. So, all of that to say, what identity have you been carrying around that is not yours to carry? What do you want to lay at the feet of Jesus so that you can pick up what he has for you? Because your calling is clear and your purpose will be revealed to you through your obedience to him. And I don't want you to miss out on what he has for you. So, what if the gap between where you are and where God is taking you is bridged by believing the identity he has spoken over you? Because in Abraham and Sarah's story, the calling wasn't ultimately to become parents of a nation. The calling was first to trust the God who named them according to his promise rather than their present reality. I hope you listener feel encouraged. Um, and knowing that you are not, you might not be who you think you are, and that might be a very good thing. Um The Lord has made you on purpose, he's made you with a purpose. He's calling you to himself, and he does the work in transforming you. You just have to keep walking with him, keep showing up and let him do what he does, let him use you. And I would love if you would share your stories of how God has used you in crazy ways. I know I have a client who shared with me a couple weeks ago how he was in a restaurant and ended up ministering to his waitress. And he was not expecting that to happen that day, was not supposed to be in that restaurant, but the way that the Lord aligned these little circumstances and these little moments, like he was that his purpose that day was fulfilled because he was looking for the opportunities that God was presenting him right now. So let me pray for you. I could go on and on. Um, me and Larson will be back on next week to talk a little bit more about identity, but I just wanted to hop on for a few minutes and share that um that little bit of encouragement. So let me pray for you guys. And uh I can't wait to talk to you next week. Lord, thank you so much for giving the opportun giving me the opportunity to be in front of a microphone. I don't feel worthy. Um, but I feel honored. And so Lord, I just pray that the listener just feels encouraged and is reminded that their identity is only defined by you. It's not their past, it's not their future, it's not their status, it's not their mistakes, it's you. When we wash all that off, the core of who we are is who you dreamed up and made yourself. And Father, I pray that they begin to learn who you are and how you see them and that they begin to live empowered and bold in this world for you because of it. I pray that they are called to you and they all recognize their calling to follow you and be your friend. But more so, I pray that they don't leave any of their purpose on the table, any of the adventure on the table, any of the blessing on the table, Lord. I pray that they get every drop of you. I praise you, Lord, for what you're doing and what you're going to do in all of their lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.