I know my own and my own know me.

John 10:14

When our routines are more than a bit off…
When our priorities are being shifted by someone or something else…
When our roles change with the passing of time…

Like a bad rewrite of Through the Looking Glass, there are times in our lives when everything feels like it has gone topsy turvy, and all we can do is hold on and desperately pray for a way to get back out to the other side. The side where routines were comfortable and priorities were set and roles were understood. The side where we felt like we knew, within reason, what each day would hold. The side where our circumstance felt solid.

Whether it be physical illness, an empty nest, loss of loved one, financial strain, relational struggle, changes at work, just as the Caterpillar asked Alice in that classic series, any trip down a routine wrecking, role re-defining rabbit hole causes most people to look in the mirror and ask themselves, “Who. Are. You?”.

It can be a tough question even in the good times, and folks, the challenges that bring us to that question aren’t usually what most of us would call good times.

• Who are we when we retire from our life’s work or when our work is terminated or changed?
• Who are we when sickness doesn’t allow us to get out and do what we’re used to doing?
• Who are we when a loved one passes and the wave of visitors and well-wishers dries up and we must fully face our loss alone?
• Who are we when our babies become adults? When a friendship changes or ends?
• Who are we when our priorities are forced to change? When our time no longer feels like our own or suddenly has no claims on it at all?

Who are we when everything that was routine and made sense has been turned on its ear like a twisted riddle from the Mad Hatter?

Oh Friends, when the answer to Who. Are. You? suddenly becomes I. Don’t. Know., it can be a real struggle to even get out of bed in the morning or off the couch in the mid-afternoon. It can be really tempting to fall into a fantasy land of TV shows, video games, and books and forget to live our own lives, becoming lost in the Looking Glass of a life that doesn’t feel like our own anymore.

If you’re still with me, by now you’re probably thinking, “Wow, Andrea, this is depressing stuff”, and I get it. It is tough stuff on days that may already seem really tough, and yet these are the kinds of emotional and mental truths that really need to be set out in the open. You see, many times what we’d rather keep in the dark needs to be in the open so that we can hit it with the light of truth. And. Here. It. Is –

Dear heart, in life, there will be times when our circumstances change and there’s no sense denying it. BUT it is so very important to remember that our circumstances do not define who we are BECAUSE GOD – our Creator and Redeemer and the very Author of our lives – God defines who you are and friends,

• You. Are. Loved.
• You. Are. Treasured.
• You. Are. Created. In. God’s. Image.
• You. Are. Called to. Higher. Callings.
• You. Are. Designed to. Glorify. God.
• You. Are. Invited to be. Joint Heirs. With. Christ.

Read it again. Pause at the periods. Let. It. Sink. In.

You. Are. Known. Truly known by the One who knows you best.

Beloved, who you are doesn’t need to change with your circumstances because Who He Is never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Ground yourself in the determination to be more like Christ Jesus. Forget about who you think you are and learn who the Creator says you are by learning more about Who. God. Is.

The Lord says, I know my own and my own know me. You may be experiencing a season right now that feels like a bad dream, but it’s time to wake up Alice.

It’s time to let God make you fully known to yourself by coming to know Him more.

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