Being a Woman - With Sure Identity

Daniel & Amy

I love children - they are so sweet and innocent and say the most profound things at times. Today I was driving home from church with Daniel in the car. We were chatting and he said that he was scared of getting arrested by the police. Concerned, I asked why. Here is what he said,

"Because Tyler said that I was a naughty boy and that the police will arrest me."

I replied to that with a swift, "You are not a naughty boy and the police will definitely not arrest you."

"But Tyler said I am naughty", he replied

"Well I said you are a good boy and Tyler said you are a naughty boy, so who are you going to believe."

"God", Daniel innocently replied.

Surprised by his response I thought I would probe a bit more.

"What does God say about you then?" I asked

"I don't know", Daniel said.

"Well why don't you ask Him Daniel?"

Daniel shyly replied, "I don't know how to."

"Just close your eyes and ask God to tell you what He thinks of you", I said. "He will speak into your heart not into your ears".

So Daniel obediently closed His eyes and mumbled a little prayer to God. After a moment of silence he announced that He couldn't hear God. Hoping I was on the right path, I said,

"Daniel, God did speak to you, so tell me what you think He said."

After a short, thoughtful pause, Daniel piped up,

"God said that I am very special and that I am not a naughty boy!"

My heart leapt with glee, Daniel heard God, I just knew it! So I encouraged him to continue listening to God .  I tried to make sure that he understood that what He experienced was how God speaks.  That He speaks into his heart, which might just sound like his usual thoughts. Aren't children so precious!

The reason I wanted to share this little conversation with you, is because I was blown away at Daniel's understanding of his identity. Identity is a subject that I am extremely passionate about but there are no amount of clever words that could have summed it up as well as Daniel did! Without hesitation he knew that he didn't believe me or Tyler, he believed what God said about him. If only we could have such a simple basis for our identity. If only we didn't care about what anyone except God thought of us. Do you know who you are and what God thinks of you? Do what Daniel did, close your eyes and ask Him.

The Being a Woman book and worksheets are available here.