Do you ever wonder who you are? I guess I have always known, from the details that I was told. When I was a kid, I was Monty’s son. After we moved from Montana back to Green Bay area, I was the one who talked “funny”. (And I thought that everyone else was a strange talker.) In High School I was simply “Norheim”, because that’s how my friends labeled me. When I was in college, I was known as the son of the Bookstore Manager. Beginning in located ministry, I was “Pastor”. Yet, I was the same person in each case, only defined and described by perceived position or relationships. However, from the Lord’s perspective, I have always known and believed that God loved me enough to send His only Son to provide my freedom from sin.
I must confess, however, that I have never considered asking God the question: Who are you? I guess that the answers were so obvious, that the question didn’t need to be asked. I looked around at the order and design of creation and concluded: God must be a designer. I saw the orderly movement of the earth, moon and seasons and concluded: God is in control. I watched the amazing changes that took place in the hearts and minds of people and concluded: God does that which everyone else thinks is impossible. I saw the metamorphosis of a worm to become a butterfly and concluded: God is an Almighty power that produces transformation. It happens not only in “bugs”, but in people too. The results of those observations still impact my life today.
God is still changing me. I’m not what I was and not yet what God intends for me to be, but I am thankful that He has not given up on me, nor has His patience run out as He waits for me to follow His leading and quit trying to control everything myself. When Moses was called to do God’s work, He used a burning bush and Moses asked God the question: “Who are you?” Exodus, Chapter 3 provided the answer:
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
What a blessing we have in never having to ask the question that Moses asked on that holy ground around the burning bush. The answer is clear: GOD IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER. He is so consistent, so faithful, so loving and so amazing, I don’t have to ask about who God is.
So if you are wondering about who you are or wondering about who God is, take just a minute to thank Him for Who He is. That gratitude may just inspire you to thank God for who you are.
Norheim Steamroller 