Like Having a Map in a Foreign Country …

Who do you think you are?
If I could sit down with you right now over a cup of coffee, that’s what I’d ask you. (That’s right, I’m not much for small talk!) I’m not asking what you do for a living or who you’re married to or how you’re related to someone important. I’m wondering just who, exactly, you think you are!
The question is also the title of my latest book, one from which I share the excerpt below. May it get the wheels of your mind turning, and may it prompt you to ask hard, heartfelt questions of the Lord. He longs to meet you in your need … He longs to answer your deepest questions of identity.

When someone has embraced her true identity she can begin to live out the unique calling God has placed on her life. The first step to living your calling is to internalize a biblical perspective of your identity. My hope is that you will do
this in the same way you would take hold of a map in a foreign country.

Imagine never having set foot in a strange land. Everything is new. You don’t recognize the language people speak, let alone know how to read it. You can’t tell north from south. So how in the world would you get from point A to point B? A map or a GPS device would become your one source for even the slightest feeling of reassurance in this uncomfortable situation.

(My husband) Fred is not intimidated by such unfamiliarity. He loves the adventure of striking out into the unknown. His attitude is best summarized every time he exclaims with a smile on his face, “I can figure it out!” I, however, like to know where I am going. I relish the feeling of a map in my hands or the sight of a GPS device mounted on the dash of my vehicle.

Once when we were traveling together in Budapest, we needed to head out of town toward Romania. Without a GPS available, we circled the city for half an hour. When we drove past our hotel for the second time, once again at ground zero,
Fred finally admitted he needed a map. Ah … direction. True direction! The map we bought was new. It was up-to-date and reliable. We could trust it. And thanks to the map – viola! – we were on our way.

We clung to it because we were lost without it. And now, no matter what anyone told us, we knew the lay of the land. Should a stranger have offered directions contrary to our map, we would have smiled and said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” We could confidently drown out every voice contrary to the map because we knew it was right! We could rely on it and dismiss any confusing directions offered to us by well-meaning strangers.

This is what a biblical worldview of your identity does for you. It drowns out every lie and twisting of the truth that stands opposed to God’s truth. It stands secure, steady, and true while your fickle feelings, faulty assumptions, the media, poor role models and other such worldly influences mercilessly attack it. But nothing else matters when you hold the truth in your possession. You know who you are.

If you like what you read and want more, as they say, “where that came from,” buy the book today! Click here to purchase!