Remember who you are

“One of our jobs in fellowship [as believers] is to tell each other who we are.” —Ron Block

Over and over this weekend at Hutchmoot, I heard this thought. Again and again I was reminded to remember who I am. To believe what God says about me and no one else. To embrace it. To trust it. To let it cover, overwhelm, redeem, and guide me. To remember.

Remembering takes time and effort. To remember, you have to sit still and be quiet. You have to turn off the TV and the lies that swirl around your brain and focus. Remembering is active and involves calling things to mind, writing yourself notes, and looking back over old memories and past events.

The call this weekend was to remember who God says we are, to remind ourselves of our identity in Christ, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Because, truthfully, I have a very hard time remembering who I am in Christ sometimes. And when I say that, I don’t mean passing moments of doubt and insecurity; I mean long periods of time, seasons of life, and dark nights of the soul when I’ve believed every lie the world and the Enemy has thrown my way. That I’m too messed up. That God really couldn’t love me. That because I feel so broken and faithless, I must not possess a very deep faith or faith at all. That no one loves me; that I’m easily forgotten and often overlooked; that I’m utterly alone; that I have been abandoned by the God I love.

I admit to thinking all of those things at one time or the other, and frankly, sometimes I still do. But the call this week was to remember. To shut off the voices of a screaming world and remember.

That I am deeply, overwhelmingly, and absolutely loved.

That I am held in the hands of my Creator—who when I have thrown my hands up in the air and declared I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t trust Him, I couldn’t get through this, has grasped me in His strong hand and stopped the free fall. He’s the One who has sat in the dark nights of the soul with me and never let go. There’s praise song with the chorus, “Oh no, I’ll never let go,” but that’s not exactly true in my mind. I have let go; He never has.

That I am beloved. So beloved that God would give His Son up for me—and Jesus loved me even on the cross. As I saw it put this week, I am the one whom Jesus loves. I am chosen, loved, and have been shown much grace and mercy. I am thankful. I am weak, but in that weakness, He is strong. I am not alone. I am not without hope. I am not too messed up for God.

And neither are you. So remember who you are today. Remember the person Christ made you to be. Remember how beloved you are. Then live in it.

Because as Frederick Buechner once wrote, “. . .all moments are key moments and life itself is grace.”