5 Days of Heartwork: What's In Your Hands?Sample

Identity: When in God’s Hands... 

Heart //

Most of us are enslaved to more than we know, more than we would like to admit. In our consumption, we think that because we are the ones holding on so tightly to things, that we are in control. What we don’t realize is that we are slowly giving control over to the things we desire. We can’t stand to look at our hands without a pile of stuff in them! And since all our shiny, interesting stuff doesn’t look like sinister shackles, we breathe a sigh of relief and keep on consuming. 

But there is terrifying bondage in this. Think about the baseball player who places all of their identity in being an athlete. As soon as s/he loses the ability to play, whether through age or injury, s/he won’t just lose weeknight games and hours of practices. S/he could lose themselves. They’ll ask, Who am I now? They will look down at those gloveless, bat-less hands, and a deep anxiety could descend... What am I supposed to do with these? 

These are questions that are too often filled with fear. The fear of not being enough leads us to all kinds of ways we look to become enough. It could be scary to think of ourselves without all of the things that define us and take up our time. But, when we understand who we are designed to be and what our hands are actually created for, the fear slowly but steadily loses its grip on us. Since “the Spirit [we] received does not make [us] slaves, so that [we] live in fear again” (Romans 8:15), we can live in the freedom and peace of our true identity: children of God. The only identity that can stand the test of time and the challenges of life is an identity that is based on nothing we have or have done, but on the presence of God as our Father. 

Not only is our Father good and loving, but Jesus is “the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15). He invites us to simply let go, so that our small hands are free to hold his. We are welcomed into the family and into the family business! Jesus showed us in his perfect life what it looks like to be a child and heir, what that family business looks like! He went around making disciples, sharing the good news, loving the lost and broken, healing the sick. When we’re so wrapped up in our old identities, we don’t have time or energy for any of that! Only in freedom can we walk into that work of compassion for all people with overflowing joy.

// Work

How do you think other people see you? Make a list of the thoughts and identities that you believe other people have about you. After making this list, talk to a mentor or parent about the identities you take on, and ask them to speak some truth to you about who you are. Pray this prayer, a beautiful mix of ancient and new (revised from “Common Prayer”), maybe with a mentor, and ask that God would free you of the fear of insufficiency and fill you with a deep knowledge of his love.