What Defines You?
Blog by Becky Leach
Something you may not know about me is this: My husband serves in an elected office. And obviously, this week was election week so I guess you could say we are running on fumes at the moment.
I don’t tell you this because I want to talk about politics - that’s his job, not mine - and I’m sure you’ve gotten more than a fair share over the past few weeks. But I tell you because this week God met me here and taught me something. Again.
My dear (and brave) husband was running for his fourth term this year and after the first numbers came in on Tuesday night, we were both thinking it was a little close for comfort. The pressure didn’t let up until nearly midnight when his final votes came in, and although we were never behind, there were several moments we both thought we might lose.
And I remember looking over at him at one point knowing I needed to whisper some encouragement in his ear. When I leaned in, I was planning on saying something like “don’t worry” or “I love you” or “God’s got this” - all things I would have meant from the bottom of my heart. But when I opened my mouth, the craziest words came out and I am convinced they were not my own, y’all.
“This does not define us.”
It almost knocked me off my feet. It was like God knew we needed a specific reminder in that particularly stressful moment. This position doesn’t and will never define us. Win, lose or draw, being in public office might be somewhere Jeff serves but it isn’t who he is. And it was at that moment I felt my heart change and peace flood my soul.
As I’ve thought back on that moment, I realize how often we define ourselves by something other than Jesus. And friend, Jesus is the only thing we could never possibly lose.
We certainly don’t want to be defined by tragic or devastating circumstances in our lives. We don’t want to be defined by our past, by abuse, by divorce, by our failure. And we set out to prove the opposite of those things with intentionality.
But we can also define ourselves by the good things in our lives too.
And if we continue to define ourselves by anything other than being a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we are putting ourselves in harm’s way. Because you know what? Life changes. We lose these definitions of ourselves and what then? Where do we turn when we lose the very thing that we set up to define who we are?
But if we instead find our very identity in being a child of the Living God then all of the other things become extra. It’s not that being a mom, a wife, a student, a CEO, a missionary, a teacher aren’t important to me or important even to who I am. They just aren’t THE thing I am.
Careers change, people leave us, relationships dissolve, kids graduate from high school. But God. He is forever.
Friend, can I encourage you today to find your identity solely in the person of Jesus Christ? Can I encourage you to ask God simply to detach you from the things you do so He is your primary source of identity? Because life is so much steadier when we live this way.
When the roller coaster that carries our circumstances tries to take us for a ride, we can remain steadfast in Him and the ride will be so much smoother. And when God sends change our way, we will have nothing to fear because friend, we won’t be afraid to lose.
Becky Leach
Becky is an artist, instagrammer, wannabe runner and obsessive coffee drinker. She is mom to three crazy kiddos and married her high school sweetheart, who just so happens to also be her State Representative. The beat of Becky’s heart is to equip women in living their best life, fully engaged with the love of Jesus while passionately running toward their unique calling.
Connect with Becky:
www.beckyleach.com
Instagram : @beckyleachtx