I was driving to work in the early morning. The light played on the river's choppy surface, and eddies of browned leaves danced along the roadside. But my mind was focused somewhere else ... I'd been using my driving time to connect with God. Sure, I'd notice those beautiful things and tell Him how lovely they were ... but I was thinking a little about the way He'd stuck by me through the years, and how I was slowly changing because of that love He'd shown me.
I know some people are thinking I'm getting weirder :) But there's not really much I can do about that because I can't be anything else. Then these words popped into my head - and struck me as something significant. "I am who I am."
To anyone who may have a Christian or Judaic background, those words jump out - and when used for a mere person, seem almost blasphemous. You see, way back in Exodus, when the Israelites were trapped in slavery, and God was about to send Moses to free them, Moses asked God who he should say had sent him - and God said "I Am who I Am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I Am has sent me to you." Exodus 3:14
But the blasphemy was lost when I realized in the next moment - I am who I am ... because my identity is grounded in Him! I know who I am - and cannot be destroyed - because who I am is His child. As surely as God is God - and can be no other. As surely as He never changes - but is the same yesterday, today, and forever. As surely as God loves because God is love - and He cannot deny himself. He is who He is! It's something we can rely on!
In the words of Martin Luther ... "Here I stand, I can do no other ... " And while I am a work-in-progress, hopefully becoming a better reflection of God's love over time, my path is decided. As a child of His, I am who I am.
