DEFINE ME.

One of the greatest tragedies in life is when people stand and tell others who they are and those who are being told take off and live by it, for better or worse; when an individual lives on an identity conferred to him or her by people around them and not by God.

Each of us unique, special in our own ways and most of all complex. The complexity of our being makes the task of self-discovery crucial and tedious as well. It doesn’t take a year or two to demystify who you are. It takes more and it’s a task that goes on an entire life. With this in mind, it’s very diminishing of any individual to let other people define him or her and not only that but just go along with it as is, no questions asked.

I totally understand that a person can know something about an individual either by revelation or by close experience with that person but even these never give one a full piece by piece breakdown of someone’s identity. Furthermore, even this small glimpse someone has still needs to be checked whether it is true or not. As long as a human being is involved, we can not ignore a chance of an error or shortcoming, whoever that may be. Always check, what he/she speaks of you does it resonate with your heart? Does it click to that internal bearing of you that you have? Is it the same thing that God spoke to you?

Someone might say, “But it is my prophet who told me that. Its is my man of God and he is very anointed. When he coughs it rains.” Well, here is the news for you: Even the most anointed man of God on this planet know, I insist, HE KNOWS, only in part. This is in accordance to what apostle Paul by the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God wrote, “Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture” (1 Corinthians 13:9 NLT). The amplified bible puts it better, “Foe we know in part and we prophesy in part [for our knowledge is fragmentary and incomplete].” In that respect, therefore, no man can tell you who you are, not fully.

You see, the only person who knows you in your fullest dimension is one who made you, the creator, God. He and only him have you the full blueprint. He knows who you are, what you can be and should be, what you can do, where you are supposed to be, how long you will live. He knows you all. All the details of it, large and small.

King David the Psalmist in knowing this he wrote, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous-how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day passed” (Psalms 139:13-16)

Breathtaking, I know!

God was there and saw you when you were conceived. He put you together piece by piece. He knows all your twist and corners, all your complexity. He orchestrated and oversaw all that and way before you were born, he pre-destined your life moment by moment before any came to pass. And no, he wasn’t gambling, he planned! Turning to this God to discover you will be one of the wisest decisions you will ever make in your life. It is an endeavour whose efforts will pay handsomely and I don’t say it's easy but just do it. Let him define you.

One might ask, what’s the problem when people define us? Is there any issue with that? The answer to that is a big YES.

The problem with people defining you, despite the fact that they can be deadly wrong, is that their definition can confine you. Knowing very little or just part of who you are, they will only tell you just as much and if you live on that believing it's only what you can be, will keep you from being more and all that God made you be. Suppose God destined as a musician to perform to crowds of a million people, performing to ten thousand or even five hundred thousand is to quench your potential. And it can happen when people define you.

Another problem is not everyone who tells you who you have good motives. Some may be interested in shaping you only for their own gains. Once you conform to their desired image, they squeeze all of that talent in you, they throw you away, empty, unfulfilled having wasted your time and energy trying being the wrong person. People can easily set you on the wrong path and you cannot afford to let that happen.

So, my appeal to you, find out who you are and do it the right way; in God. It takes time, effort and patience. No shortcuts on this but the rewards and quite fulfilling. As you go on, little and little of you will be revealed along the way, sometimes like a trail of breadcrumbs that eventually lead you home.

The God who made you desires that you get on that path. He wants you to defy those limits and be all that he made you to be. For a loving father, it gives him immense pleasure. And as we come to the end of this journey, my desire is that each one of us will continually make this on plea to God, “DEFINE ME”