The Promises of God: His Identity, Our Identity, and the Future

     I recently had the opportunity to participate in a silent retreat for a full 12-hour day, which was focused on Psalm 23. On that retreat, God prompted my heart with many gentle whispers, and each came back to one of His promises from Scripture. I had been reading through the Psalms for the past few months, so I was thankful to linger for a long time in Psalm 23. The Psalms calm my soul with reminders of God's daily faithfulness and love.

     These promises from the Old Testament are not limited to centuries ago. His ever-present power and presence go with His children; we can cling to Him through the good times and the bad, in the times we feel close to Him and the times we feel frustrated with His plans.

     If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have probably heard these truths many times, but God's promises are lessons I need a refresher on every once in a while. I know I have needed to hear these words over and over since March.

Identity: God's and Ours

     While at first I was tempted to dive into my problems and what I wanted out of the silent retreat, God gently put the following question on my heart: "What is your image of Me?"

     I knew I had to be honest and write down my specific view of God, not Sunday school answers. It was interesting to see the first qualities that came to mind and how they were arranged...

• speaks in a breath of wind or a roar
• omnipresent
• omniscient & outside of time
• Creator of all, including every aspect of human history that He allowed
• desires to be my friend
• loves me and others unconditionally
• infinite, eternal

     The experiences I have had from early childhood and my teen years have influenced this view of God. I challenge you to maybe make your own list. Sit with God for a while and ask Him how you see Him. It may be the first step to revealing some hang-ups in your relationship with Him (for example, if you see Him as a demanding father or angry king).

     The goal of this exercise is not to discover who I am but who God is. In doing this, I recognized that how I view Him is critical to understanding myself.

     After many months of feeling distant from the Lord even in solitude with Him, I finally had some breakthroughs in the months of May and June. During the retreat, I was able to read and meditate on Psalm 23:2: "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters."

     I asked God to reveal His truths as I looked around at green plants. What was their identity as "green" things? Flourishing. Growing. Healthy. Then He gave me the word undamaged, and my heart cracked a little as I thought about broken friendships in my past.

     I looked out across still water and thought of synonyms for "still": Quiet. Peaceful. Deep. And ultimately, this water the psalmist is describing is unagitated. God, how often am I agitated by the things of this world instead of at peace?

     To me in this season, green means undamaged. Still means unagitated. These words are a balm for my soul, and they are my identity as a restored child of God. I do not have to think of myself as damaged, broken, or agitated by the chaos.

     God is standing right beside me, affirming my new identity as a healed peacemaker.

The Future & Unknowns

     In my journal I wrote, "I might not (definitely won't) learn everything there is to know about my future. But I can meditate on the character of Him who holds it in His hands. I have everything I need, materially and spiritually, mentally and emotionally. God is a truly good Shepherd who will not fail me now."

     God makes so many promises about the future, but all of them come back to the trustworthiness of His character and His great love for us.

"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you."

—Isaiah 43:4-5a

     God's promise to never leave the nation of Israel can be claimed by His people today too. He will never leave us nor forsake us. We can thank Him for His past faithfulness, and we can trust Him as our loving Father to provide what we need in the future!

~Madeline