Yeah, yeah, God's comfort.

     God's asked a lot out of me lately. At least it feels that way. Maybe it's rooted in laziness, maybe He has something that fits right in line with my gifts, or maybe He's just asking a lot out of me right now. May I even go as far and select D) all of the above, who knows? What I do know is that I've really felt moved to create an identity statement for myself. Find points in scripture that line up with my gifts, people in scripture that I relate with and passions of mine that I can honor God with. As I've wrestled to discover who God is, who I am and why I even exist, this whole God-thing has gotten tremendously more complex. Don't laugh at me, but for a minute there, I thought I had this figured out.
     While I try to discover who I am according to scripture, I look at the importance of even creating an identity statement. Gateway, my church back home, has always emphasized on them and Jesus had all kinds of "I AM" statements, I want one! I decided to seek some council in this area. I went home last weekend and was able to meet with someone who has a firm identity statement and feed off of how she got started. She walked me through the steps she was walked through. What are my spiritual gifts, who do I relate to in scripture? Having an identity statement is a reminder of what God has called you to. When opportunities arise, you can easily decipher whether God would call you to it or not. I was reminded that I didn't only need to know myself, but I need to know God (this was after that minute I thought I had it all figured out).
     Too often I limit God to my own experience with Him. Too often, I assume that God can only save people from circumstances that are of equal or lesser value than the ones He saved me from. But even there I'm only talking about one aspect of Him, there are so many other facets I haven't even looked at.
     It's been three months since my pastor Joey Butler passed away. The other day I was in the car listening to 10,000 Reasons, one of Joey's favorite songs, and I found myself overwhelmed with grief. I was upset because I was reminded that I wasn't going to see Joey when I went home, he wasn't going to be there and he won't ever be there again. Mostly, I was upset because only three months had passed by and I had forgotten, if even for a moment, that he had died. Trying to hold up those emotions, I tried to redirect my thoughts. The feeling of distance I felt from Joey at that moment was the same distance I remember feeling from God when I wasn't following Him. It was right then when God told me I'll never have to feel that way about Him. God will never leave me, He will always be at home when I get there, in class, my car or at Target. I was shown a facet of God I tend to flee from: His comfort.
     Everyday I choose to be more like Christ and everyday I die to myself in the process. It's radically healing. I've realized the power that lives within me and the tools God has equipped me with according to the grace that has been given to me (Romans 12:6a). God has called me to speak truth and exhortation. I have been called as an ambassador for Christ (1 Thess. 5:9) who is being transformed (2 Cor. 3:18) through God’s grace. I am called to Jesus Christ (Rom 9:24), chosen of
God (Col. 3:15), confident (Phil 1:6) and worthy of that calling.

     God has pulled me out of and continues to pull me out of the junk in my life. He has turned my crummy conditions into something beautiful. All of us have a story and God has set aside a plan for your life, not despite of those things, but because of them. The King of the universe desires to know you, desires to comfort you; figure out who He is and find yourself in the process.