But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? ...Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3:11, 13 NKJV)
There is a great deal of identity crisis going on in many lives today.
The term identity crisis was coined by the late psychologist, Erik Erikson. He defined identity crisis as a time when one goes through intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself. It is a time of conflict and psychological distress when one seeks a clearer sense of self and an acceptable role in society. A person going through an identity crisis asks himself questions like, “Who am I?”, “What is my role in life?” and “What direction is my life headed?” And because he is unable to settle on an answer, he goes through consistent unhappiness and experimentations with different definitions of self and sometimes settling with the wrong one.
Moses asks two questions in our text today. The first question was "Who am I?" The second was in essence "Who are you Lord? These two are questions of identity. The first was about his own identity and the second about God's identity. These two questions are significant because they are questions everyone asks. From the staunch atheist to the fanatically religious, there are raging questions within everyone of what their true identity is.
Today, we will focus on Moses' first question on his own identity, " Who am I...?
Despite the fact that the answer to who we are is clearly spelt out in the Bible, many believers are uncertain of their identities, roles and places in God’s plan. They usually respond to this crisis in by centering their identities on the wrong things. Here are some false identity centers you may have used or be using:
1. You define ourselves by where you’ve been: To many believers, the sense of identity comes from their natural backgrounds. They define themselves based on their family backgrounds, racial identities, painful experiences or past sinful lifestyles.
2. You define ourselves by what you’ve done. This manifests partially as the works syndrome. Many believers believe their identities are based on their records of good deeds and charitable endeavors. Good deeds and involvement in worthwhile causes are good indeed but they are not who we are.
3. You define ourselves by what you have. First, I refer to material possessions here. Many value themselves by their financial net worth. They make the size of their bank accounts or investments the yardstick for measuring their inner worth. Secondly, I refer to physical beauty and physique. Many center their identity on how they look. They feel worthy or unworthy based on their physical looks.
4. You define ourselves by who you know. Another false center of identity is human relationships. Many derive their sense of worth from who they know. A single person may feel the solution to his identity crisis is to hook up with someone in a relationship. Young people in urban communities hook up with gangs to enhance their sense of worth. For others, self-worth is based on the number of friends they have on Facebook, their following on Twitter or the latest stars or idols they’ve met, gotten their autographs or taken pictures with. Marriages and business relationships are entered into with a desire for identity.
5. You let others define you. Nature abhors a vacuum. When you fail to define ourselves, others will define you. Society will take advantage of the identity crisis you face to give you its own identity.
Here's a solution to the crisis. Cease centering your identity on any of these false centers. You have to take our eyes of yourself, circumstances, backgrounds or possessions. Instead you should turn your attention to the word of God where God has accurately described you. James likened the word of God to a mirror where you behold yourselves and see the kind of person you are. The word contains the most accurate description of you. God, your maker and the source of your true identity has recorded His thoughts and plans concerning you in His word.
You must diligently search the word and find yourself in it, believing and boldly proclaiming what you see, like John the Baptist did when he declared boldly to the Pharisees “ I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness” quoting Isaiah 40:3 as his identity in response to their wrong labels of him. Or as Christ did in Luke 4:68 when he opened Isaiah 61 and located himself there. Much is written about you in the word. You should not have an identity crisis. Find yourself in the word.
Decision of the Day
I understand that my identity is in God, not in where I have been, what I have done, what I have, who I know or what others say about me. Christ is my identity. I can find and know myself in the word. I can locate who I am in Christ as I search the bible. I will find myself. I refuse to live by a false identity. I will find my true worth in the word.
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