In his book, And David Perceived That He was King, Dale Mast makes a case I have long agreed with. Identity is the key to fulfilling our destiny. He states, “Whenever God visited a man in the scriptures, it was the end of one season and at the beginning of another one. Identity shifts are required for each new season.” The challenge is the time it takes to form a new or modified identity once it has been revealed.
Mast uses the example of David who was anointed king over Israel years before he became king. David had faith to face Goliath and to lead Israel into many battles, but we are told in 2 Samuel 5:12 that finally “David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.” The moment David actually comprehended he had been established as king was years after he was anointed to be king. Faith may have accepted the statement but it was years before David saw himself as God saw him. It was only then that David took on the identity of a king and felt secure in being God’s leader.
Each of us have a destiny that God is trying to reveal to us, but until we take on our identity in that role, we will never have confidence that God is going to do something extraordinary through us. If we harbor doubts about who God has made us, we will shrink back and not “risk” the new things or we will cover up our insecurities and manipulate situations to maintain our position.
If you study the life of King Saul, David’s predecessor, you will see that he never felt secure as king. He never believed that God had firmly established him in that role so he felt threatened at all times…even to the point of trying to murder those he thought wanted his throne. . He pushed ahead instead of waiting on the Lord when he thought his position or his success was in jeopardy. He fought battles for his own glory, built monuments to himself, and ended up a colossal failure.
When David perceived he was king, he comprehended that God had established him as king and no one could remove him until God made the decision to do so. With that heart knowledge, he was able to live out his destiny with confidence.
The question is how do we develop our identity. As children, we are born into the world with little idea of who we are. We develop a self-image based on what we are told about ourselves, how others react to us, and how we perform in given situations. If we are consistently told we are loved, capable, valuable, etc. and the actions of those closest to us agree with those words, we develop an identity of being a person who matters, who can accomplish great things, who anticipates that others will value us, etc. and will perform at higher levels because we believe we can.
If, on the other hand, we are told we don’t matter, that we are worthless and stupid and that no one will ever ove us, we develop a self-image or identity that anticipates failure and rejection and that lives up to those expectations. This dynamic is what sociologist have called the “looking glass self.” In other words, we look to others to find evidence of who we are and usually believe what we see about us in their reactions to us. It takes time for our initial identity to form and even more time to change our self-image if it needs reconstruction. But, the change is essential.
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham as he begin to build an identity in Abraham as a father of God’s chosen nation. That was difficult because for decades he and Sara could have no children. But God kept speaking and Abram kept listening and, finally, he saw who he was through God’s eyes. God had become his “looking glass”or his mirror.
We must take the same journey as God shifts our identity so we can fulfill our destiny. We must learn to hear God and allow him to be the mirror through which we perceive ourselves. We need to say what he says about us. We need to dream what he dreams about us. We need to see ourselves as sons and daughters in the house, greatly loved and valued by the Father. Our identity must come from Him and what he says about us rather than our performance. Peter did not initially live up to the name (Rocky) or identity Jesus gave him. If he had let his performance define him on the night Jesus was arrested, Peter would never had shown up to preach the first gospel sermon on Pentecost. If our identity depends on what we have been doing, we can never move beyond that. We must allow God to speak to our hearts and tell us who we are in his eyes and claim that by faith so that we can step into the next chapter of whatever God has for us.
I like what Mast says in regard to this. He writes, “Faith can peak in a moment, but identity requires a sustained vision. Identity must be held in place by thoughts we receive from Father God. Faith is more fruitful when it operates from our true identity.” I think we should all take moments to assess our identity and the source of that identity. Knowing and believing who we are in Christ is essential to growth, fruitfulness, security, and peace. It is essential to accepting our next assignment from the Father. Who or what is the mirror by which we see ourselves? We should know and make adjustments when needed.