Identity Crisis

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“This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last; apart from Me there is no God.” — Isaiah 44:6

Because of the rigors of deployment and the struggles of life, have you started asking yourself, “Who am I anymore?”

Perhaps you can call that an “identity crisis”—when you begin to question or contemplate or doubt what makes you important or what makes you worthwhile.

Many people tie their importance or identity to a number of different things: career progression, relationships, checkbook & savings balance, housing, car, what parents or spouse or sibling or supervisor or physical appearance or even the past says about them.

What is the major problem with this list? It leaves out God and what He has to say about who you are.

Let’s make this more personal: There is nothing more freeing, satisfying, pleasing, fulfilling, rewarding or gratifying than living our life, not in light of what other people think or expect or demand, but in living our life in light of what God says, God thinks, and God demands. It is a powerful thing to walk through life with a firm conviction of our identity—as God knows us.

And here is the bottom line: Everything that God says about us (you and me), thinks about us and demands of us is the outcome or tied directly to who He is. In other words, when we understand who God is our identity crisis will be solved and we will be satisfied.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Isaiah 43. God’s chosen people were having an identity crisis—they were unsure of who God was and therefore unsure of themselves. These verses can help us replace unbiblical thoughts about ourselves with biblical truth as we sort through what God had to say (through Isaiah) to the Israelites in the Old Testament, themselves facing a deployment of sorts. Satan, the enemy, knows that if he can create confusion about our identity or worth, then we will go through life not knowing what or whom to live for.

In Isaiah 43, God establishes some simple truths about Himself which help the Israelites through their identity crisis. Indeed the more we know about God the more we can truly know why we were created and what on earth we are here for—so this is a worthy exercise:

1. God is the covenant keeper, therefore I am secure.

From the text of Isaiah 43:1: “But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!’”

God calls Himself LORD which means “covenant keeper.” Why is that important? A covenant reveals the personal nature of God in terms of His relationship with you and me. A contract can be broken when one of the parties fails to live up to the stipulations in the contract. A covenant is forever. A covenant is based on the enduring nature of God’s commitment to us.

Why is God so committed to us? He created us and He formed us. He also says that He redeemed us—in other words, he bought us back from the bondage of sin. In order for God to establish His covenant with us He had to personally pay the ransom with the death of His Son, Jesus Christ—something we could not do for ourselves.

God also says that He knows us by name. Somehow—before the world was made—God looked into the future and chose to form and create us, chose to set His love upon us and call us by name as a saved believer in Jesus Christ, His Son. Not because of anything special in us or about us—but because of how awesome and great He is. He did it to freely demonstrate His love and grace, though undeserved on our part.

God is the covenant keeper — therefore I am secure.

2. God is the perfect protector and provider, therefore I am strong.

From the text of Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.”

“Water” is a general term and “river” a specific term. “Fire” is a general term and “flame” a specific term. General to specific.

Why is that important? It says to me that God is present not just in the year or in the month or in the day I experience hardship (perhaps related to deployment)—He is present with me in the hour and the minute and in the second of my difficulty.

Why would a loving God who calls us by name allow this kind of hardship? To show us how strong we can be in Him. God lovingly uses hardship and painful circumstances to teach us how badly we need Him.

What does this have to do with our identity? When things are tough, others may say that we might as well quit and give up—or compromise our faith—or tempt us to come to the conclusion that God does not care. But the truth is: God is present with me in my weakness. I have His strength and I become strong in Him. I am not going to go under or go away—I am going to stay in the fight regardless of how hot the flame gets or how high the river becomes.

God is the perfect provider and protector — therefore I am strong in Him.

3. God is love; therefore I am valued by Him.

From the text of Isaiah 43:3,4: “For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.”

Isaiah had their years of slavery on their minds—so God references their ancient history. He reminds them that the deliverance from slavery cost the lives of Egyptians. Remember the plagues and the midnight deaths of the firstborn? Remember the Egyptian army drowning at the bottom of the Red Sea? The point is—God says that their freedom came at a cost . . . . the principle of substitutionary atonement. Because of His holiness, God demands that sin be paid for. Because of His love, He allows a substitute. We see this principle throughout Scripture and perfectly in the fact that Jesus, the pure and spotless, righteous and holy One, willingly became our substitute for sin. Because God loves us—we are valued.

And one more point—that value is not based on our performance! Our value is based upon His love for us and not upon our love for Him. So no matter what happens during this war, God’s love is eternal and unconditional.

We are fickle and changing — but God is not.

4. God is forward looking and forgiving, therefore I do not live in the past and the best is yet to come.

From the text of Isaiah 43:18-21: “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field will glorify Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people. The people whom I formed for Myself will declare my praise.”

One of the greatest tools of Satan related to our identity is to keep us looking backward and reminding us of all our failures—perhaps even during deployment. And it is a tool that not only he uses, but other people use it as well. While we are to confess our sins of the past, we are not to stay there!

God says in verses 18 and 19 that we are to put the pain and disappointments of past failures behind us and move forward. And that includes forgiving those who have hurt or disappointed us so that we can go forward!

God knows that our identity can be bound up in past mistakes and failures—and therefore we can begin to believe that is how it is always going to be. But remember the context of the Scripture—God’s chosen people had sinned in their disobedience. But God said “Don’t stay there.” The same is true for us today.

It is God’s nature to forgive (Psalm 86:5). Forgiveness was in our Savior’s heart as He died upon the cross (Luke 23:34). God forgives us only because Christ died to pay for our sins (Ephesians 1:7). And God is always ready to forgive us (I John 1:9).

When we understand this we will not be defeated by our past—but we learn from it and move forward.

So, bottom-line, what is our true identity? Fill in the blanks with your own name:
I Corinthians 6:20 God says that _____ has been bought with a price and _____ belongs to Almighty God.
Ephesians 1:5 says _____has been adopted as God’s child.
Colossians 2:13 says _____ has been redeemed and forgiven of all _____’s sins.
Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation to _____ because _____ is in Christ.
Philippians 3:20 says _____ is a citizen of heaven.
Hebrews 4:16 says _____ can find grace and mercy in time of need.
I Corinthians 3:16 says _____ is God’s temple.
Ephesians 2:10 says _____ is God’s workmanship.
Philippians 4:13 says that today, _____ can do all things through Christ who strengthens _____.

Remember – It’s not about us, it’s about Him and who He is!

Questions to Share:

1. If you cannot say with assurance that you are a believer and follower in Jesus Christ— but you want to know more so that your identity is established in Him, go to:
Godlovessoldiers.com
Godlovesmarines.com
Godlovessailors.com
Godlovesairmen.com
Godlovescoastguardsmen.com

2. In what ways have you let others define you? What is the truth as a child of God in Jesus Christ?