Who Do You Say I Am?

The funniest thing happened to me recently. I was visiting an office, and the child of a fellow church member saw me and delightfully hailed me with “Doctor John!”

But my nephew, who happened to be there, heard it and butted in to save me from what was apparently sacrilegious name-calling. “No! That’s ‘Untul’ John!” (‘Untul’ being toddler-speak for Uncle).

I could not help but think about how allegorical it was.

The kind of relationship we’ll have with God will depend on who we understand God to be. In Exodus chapter 3, God introduced Himself to Moses as the “I AM THAT I AM.” This has popularly been interpreted to mean that God is whoever we need Him to be. So if, for example, we’re in want of something, we see God as Jehovah Jireh, because that’s who we need him to be at that point.

It’s important to note that God is first who He is before He is who we need Him to be. Ideally, the picture of who He is and who we need Him to be should be the same. But sometimes, life’s pressures can cause us to be fixated on an idea of who we think God should be when He’s instead trying to show us another dimension of Himself.

For example, when we want Jehovah Jireh to desperately show up, it could be that He wants us to experience Him as Jehovah Tsidkenu— The Lord our Righteousness.

Whenever, in the scriptures, people called God by a new name, it more often than not came after they’d had encountered God in a way they hadn’t; after they’d seen God move in a way they hadn’t seen: and not before.

 “…But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

Matt 16:15-17 (KJV)

Just like Peter, you will be questioned by life and its agencies: who do you say God is? Who is God to you? The only correct answer will be an answer borne from revelation.

In the difficult times we pass through, many times, God is trying to either introduce us to a bigger picture of Himself or make clearer that picture we already have of Him.

And if you really listen, despite the roar of your world apparently crumbling around you, you’ll hear Him speak to your heart who He is, and what you actually need Him to be at that moment in time.