Identity Crisis

Identity Crisis

7/22/20

How often do we hear this phrase each week, or more specifically, how many times do we invoke this phrase into our own lives?  When our lives revolve around us alone in the physical or emotional setting only this phrase will become an hourly occurrence for it is at this time we find out that our fight is not what we have believed it was.  God never intended for us to have such a phrase become an option for our living, our identity in Him was our original establishment and it was our choice to follow the world’s deep state.  However, God has provided us another chance of salvation and it is still our choice to either choose Him or not.  God loves this nation, His Church, and you individually.  It is not His choice that we fall for such misinterpretations.  Even if we completely fall for such atrocities, God is still with us and will hear our individual cries for Salvation.

It has been a common tradition of humanity to find out about their inner integrity and identity through trials and tribulations.  Some of these identification events are short in nature while others tend to be long, drawn-out, and cumbersome adventures.  And when these settings occur, our hearts and minds are wrenched with question after question of why things occurred the way they did and then the fear of trying to recover from such tragedies begins to flood what remains of our emptiness and brokenness.  I remember a few times in my life when my world or the world that I believed was “my world” came crashing down around me, and for a while, I did not feel like doing much of anything.  Some of these disappointments that I was experiencing I could have avoided if I had listened to real and sound counsel but I chose not to and to follow what could be considered to be fun and popular.  I became so caught up in such activities and experiences that I did not see what was coming and when those consequences came down the pike, my world was turned upside down.

I could have dealt with such issues one of two ways, just as all of us have to do when such trials come our way and our eyes search around for someone or something familiar to refer to and then start toward.  Of course, I was upset that the events had turned and taken such a direction yet at the same time I had no one else to blame, but you know I wanted to and did for a short period of time.  I did not like the direction I was choosing even though it felt good at that moment; I knew that holding grudges and not allowing any further dealings with the parties involved would not be the wisest of choices, oh but that root of unforgiveness had to be destroyed but once again, I did not want to do this.  At this time, I had no idea that what I was experiencing was a part of my identity and how there was a battle for control of how I was going to handle things.  All of us have to face this situation and decision-making time at some point in our lives and the way we handle things is the marking of our restoration and eternal placement.

Psalms 137:1-3

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

This passage gives us a picture of a people that have been defeated and have been taken captive by a force that is far greater than they.  From the undertones of this passage, we can hear the unhappiness surface from the voices that are wondering what occurred in their placements to cause such devastation.  We also see that even though their lives are present they are in captivity and are slaves down to the very music that they must play and perform.  The human mind can wander and wonder about being in such a position of change but when we remember who these people are and who Created them allowed such destruction to occur, we cannot ignore the fact that if God does something once He has the authority to perform such acts again.  This portion of the Psalms is not a praise or happy time, but it is a time of reflection and of the true identity crisis that was present in their lives.  When your identity becomes invoked on physical or world standards you give Satan license to destroy it.  When Israel decided to leave God’s Ways for a secular life, they divorced themselves from the Truth and left their Family that God established; we give license to Satan to do the exact same thing, this Kingdom Law has not changed one bit, and when this occurs there can be no doubt that confusion and identity problems shall soon follow.

Here again, we see that the people from Israel have two choices to choose from, just as all of us do.  They could open their hearts and figure out that they had gone far astray from the Ways of God and then repent and start over by trusting God and allowing Him to restore their hearts or they could sulk by the riverside and become defiantly angry enough to rebuild their inner worlds (hearts) stronger and higher than before.  When we read further, in the Old Testament, we find the choice that Israel and Judah accepted as their own and it does not provide a pretty picture or story to tell.  Yes, their nations were still recognizable but they were so in captive forms.  Nothing good has come out of decisions where people sit beside a lake, river, stream, or ocean and contemplate their settings in captivity.  This short passage should remind us how easy it is to become turned against God and the One who established our name in the beginning.  This process of recognition and restoration did not occur overnight nor did it take just 100 years or so, but thousands.  Israel did not have to become such a grave and vile nation but it was her choice to do so and since they did not heed God’s voice they found themselves on foreign riverbanks weeping and being forced to sing songs for their captors.

This passage of Scripture should also remind us of who we are and why our own nation was established.  Then, we should immediately begin to look at what we are producing and it should become clear exactly where our hearts are at and who they are focused upon.  Our growth of spiritual decline has exponentially included spiritual infections that have now ravaged our spiritual bodies and are being physically portrayed openly without hesitation.  This nation is in one huge identity crisis and it stems from the spiritual demise that we allowed to infest us long ago.  This issue has NOT stemmed from the current President or his administration, it has been here for a very long while and the Church has even helped in this demise by believing in the same falsities that the world wallows in, nor did the issue of self and worldly guidance stem from the ongoing problems within Israel, it all stemmed from the decision to challenge the authority of God and place Him behind instead of Him leading not just physically but spiritually as well.  This is where our identity crisis begins and it shall continue the path of the weed root in good soil until it is pulled and if you pull it quickly the anguish shall be minimal, but when God does it there will be greater pain for time has gone by.

By the looks of things today, many have already made their choices concerning their directional status.  It is sad to watch such beautiful people rip apart the conductivity that has been put in place inside the heart of this nation.  It is painful to watch these folks destroy the exact positional requirements it took for this nation to establish herself as the one source of help and refuge for anyone who orderly wished to change their living space and begin again; the ultimate picture of how God changed the world by providing the security needed from the wiles of the devil.  Then understand by this confession of ours, our captors shall make us sing their tunes of captivity and force us to raze our own cellared hearts.  Once this process begins, it shall continue until God believes that He has taken away enough for us to begin again.  There is so much anger in this nation’s heart when talk of stepping back occurs.  Do you realize that when you believe you are in an identity crisis that you are not moving in a direct forward motion?  If you do not know your identity then there is no way possible that you can set your feet in a single direction, the splits are only in order.

Why haven’t we figured it out yet that when our priorities and hearts are not lined up with God and Him first in our lives that we cannot be truly identified?  A question for you: throughout all your reading and studying of God’s Word, when did you ever see God panic or become confused?  Another question right quick: how many times in your reading and studying of God’s Word have you witnessed humanity panic or becoming confused?  The answer to those two questions should not be difficult by any means, God has never lost His focus or vision for His Creations, it is us who have deliberately gone off course.  Through this admission, no one can complain that God left them or God did not show up when things became hard.  We no longer applaud good things others do, instead, we are jealous of the fact that someone has something better or that can complete a task more efficiently than we.  It does not matter what others can do better as long as they can sense the same spirit within them and find common ground.  This type of living shall only collapse because you have to remember that when a worldly identification system is allowed to participate in your life eventually chaos shall reign, and those inner wizards will begin to fight each other.

God shall not give you an identity crisis, He shall only give you identity.  With all of these examples above, it cannot be denied who and what gives us identity and who and what gives us identity crises.  God has established this pattern from the first day of Creation and He has not changed that pattern at all.  Mankind has done a fabulous job of denying God and the works that He has provided, so if we are going to blame anyone for the mess we are in, let us tell the truth and publicly admit it is us.  We have come so far off course from the mission we were created to do and we are still blinded by the darkness of the world.  Being blind is bad enough but to be blinded while in the darkness is a condition that cannot be overcome.  Identity crisis is not an inclining projection, it can only provide declining conditions because everyone presents in the same crisis which means if one thousand people are in a group there will be one thousand people in crisis.  This puts Christ’s words into placement when He said that He is there when just two are in agreement in His Name.

Say, Church!  Do you know that our actions prove that we have an identity crisis?  We cannot even agree what time church services should begin every week so what makes us believe that we have ANY authority to greet sinners with the message of Jesus Christ?  Look at us!  We are pathetic and because of our inadequate words and doings many people are dying each day and living for eternity without the presence of God.  The saddest part of all of this is, is the fact that we as the Church do not consider us having a problem and that somehow we will be immune to such devastation in the future.  God asks you to read His prophets again and study them like your life depended on it; oh, it does!  It is time we repent Church and come back to God and get our house in order before God delivers His hand.  Repent Church, now and correct this crisis identity of ours and maybe, just maybe we can set another example to the world that needs Christ.

DLB