So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galations 3:26-27
“Who?” That’s the question that was asked to me repeatedly during the hours of darkness for two consecutive nights. It became too much, and I started searching for answers to the questions that were being raised. Who are you? Who do you want to be? Who does God want you to be…who does He see? Who do you put your faith in? Who do you surround yourself with? Who supports you? Who’s helping you? Who are you helping? Who’s holding you back? Who can you trust? Who should you invest in? Who do you need to spend more time with?
All those questions were raised as I listened to the great horned owl that was grilling me from outside our house. I was in awe listening to that magnificent creature, and it gave me an opportunity to think about the close of this year and the start of the next. I focused on who I was and if that person lined up with who God wanted me to be.
An example is when I was out with the boys on a fossil hunt the other day when my oldest found a fossilized tooth that I walked right passed. My eyes were on the ground and I had to have stared right at it without even seeing it. He asked me how I could’ve missed it. I thought about it and realized that if I was given a second chance, without being told any differently from the first time, I would’ve passed over it again.
My son was confused when I told him this because it was quite large, and I’d been spotting fossils much, much smaller. I had to explain how I wasn’t seeing it because I wasn’t expecting it. I was expecting smaller; therefore, my eyes were only seeing what I was expecting to see. My eyes were searching for what I had envisioned. That’s what I was focusing on. What my vision was became what I saw rather than what was actually there. My expectations changed my view of reality.
Just like those fossils, who we expect to see in the mirror is who we become. So, when the question came up of who I was, I realized that my perception was changing the answer to the question. Instead of answering the question of who I was through God’s eyes, I was answering the question with who I saw myself being from my own eyes. I was missing the big picture, because of my small vision. I was overlooking all the things that was placed directly in front of my eyes.
The answer to the question is no! I wasn’t seeing who God was seeing. I needed the owl’s questions to help my vision line up with His. I challenge you to ask yourself those same questions by looking through the lens of God. Are you passing over the big because you’re focused on the small, even though it’s right in front of you?
Who are you? A good first answer should be, “A child of the Most High God.” Try using that lens to start answering the other questions and get in alignment with Him. Don’t let your preconceived perceptions change the reality of who you are when you’ve clothed yourself with Christ!
