During World War II more than 140,000 wartime prisoners served in Japanese POW camps. Thousands of them died from exhaustion, dehydration and starvation. However, for many it was not the inhumane living conditions that threatened their survival, but the constant mental and emotional abuse suffered daily at the hands of the Japanese prison guards. The dehumanization of their souls was more than they could bear, and for many, the loss of hope and the crisis of identity was beyond survival. We have an enemy. We often do not fight flesh and blood, but our battles rage in the mind. Our enemy would love to steal our identity. He knows that if he can crush our dignity and distort our identity, then he will win.
Maybe you are a mom, working feverishly to juggle all of the demands of your family, and in your most mentally exhausted state of mind, you hear a little voice in your head telling you, "You are not good enough".
Maybe you've been trying to have a baby for years, and things are not working out the way you had planned. Disappointment, hurt and anger begin to set in. And in quiet, lonely moments you hear a little voice in your head telling you, "You are not worthy".
Maybe you are single, hoping to find true love, someone to spend the rest of your life with, but time and time again you find yourself broken-hearted and rejected. And in those moments perhaps you hear a little voice in your head telling you, "You are unlovable".
Maybe you have hit a moment of crisis in your life, and depression has settled in like thick fog on a winter morning. You can't seem to rise above it or see beyond it, and you hear a little voice in your head telling you, "You are not strong enough".
I don't know the narrative playing in your head. I don't know what lies are trying to steal away your dignity, and essentially your identity, and I don't know if your faith is at its breaking point. I do know, however, that the God who created all things created you. And I know that he knows you and has called you by name.
"Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name; you are mine." Isaiah 43:1
God has redeemed you.
God has called you by name.
You belong to God.
When you feel your identity is being threatened, just remember to whom you belong. Don't lose hope. Don't let the enemy run away with your identity. You belong to the God of all creation. You belong to King of kings.
He calls you by name. And he says, "You are mine".