SETTLING IN TO TRANSITION

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“20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20

I settle myself in front of the computer and my fingers hover over the keys, what do I have to share with my partner family this week? I ask myself. Thoughts swirl through my head as the to-do list for preparation marches before my mind’s eye. I have been home from North Carolina for 3 weeks now. The first 2 I worked like crazy meeting with people, working my job and trying to get my head on straight after a month away. This week however, was the first week I’ve really had of decreased work ours to allow me to focus on ministry work, and let me tell you, the transition is significant. You never realize how wrapped up you become in whatever task takes the majority of your time. God’s been speaking to me about this the last couple of months but there’s nothing like a significant transition away from what has defined you for several years to wake you up to the fact that your identity has been wrapped in your task.


Now it’s not always a bad thing to have part of yourself defined by a task. All of us in one way or another are generally defined by a role we fill such as: engineer, cashier, mother, father, friend, counselor, etc…. However, God has been making it very clear that my identity – our identity – at it’s core must be Christ. When each of us trusted Him by faith we became a new creature and Paul says, “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). All of the things I do, desire, admire, these things can easily become my identity or the things I strive to put on as my identity but God is showing me in this time of transition that He and He alone is and should be my identity. Work, missions, family – these are gifts but not my identity and I am grateful God is graciously taking my hand and using this time of transition to immerse me again in Himself so that I can decrease and He can increase.

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