If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

So I had a long and rough day yesterday. I tried to push myself to write, but God said that my heart was not in the right place for it. I was angry and bitter. It was just a struggle to want to be saved. But I love God and His people. Not only that, He knows what I need. Even if it breaks my routine, His word is more important and beneficial.

Especially when I work with kids. They are energetic and full of surprises. I was a bit tired from my long day, but I could sit and talk to them. One of the girls brought in a stuffed Heffalump, the purple elephant from Winnie the Pooh. She was so excited to show it to me. Immediately I recognized it from one of my favorite movies.

I told her that, but she refused to accept that. It was a purple elephant. I told her that Heffalump was its name. It’s a purple elephant called Heffalump. She still screamed no. Then she said something that hit me. And not just because it was all in English.

“MY purple elephant. Lavender, MINE! No Heffalump.”

I blinked and just said okay. Lavender was a very pretty purple elephant. That made her happy and she went to play with her friends. But then I thought about her words. She didn’t accept the name I gave her, not the fact that I showed her that its name was Heffalump. The toy was hers and she deemed who and what it was. Not the toy, not me, not other people, her. It was her toy.

How many times do we let ourselves be identified by other things? And I’m not only talking about race, gender, personality type, or political party, I’m also talking about adjectives like “the pretty one,” or what we can do, “he’s a singer,” or our successes “oh he/she is the next Shakespeare!” So many things and people tell us what we are, but at the end of the day, we’re God’s children.

We are called by His name and are His heirs. In Matthew 6, it talks about how we can trust God to take care and support us because He takes care of all HIS creations including the birds and animals. The question is, are we willing to let go of what identifies us and cling to what God says?

Whether we admit it or not, we cling to/like our titles or identifiers. I’m the nice, cheerful, and helpful one at work. It feels nice when they call me that. But sometimes nice isn’t right and sometimes I’m tired. Sometimes, I’m the one that needs help. While none of that changes me, it makes me feel like I dropped the ball on being “the nice, cheerful, and helpful one.”

But is what I feel, more important than what God says?

God says to rest. God says that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. God says that I have to humble myself and pray, then HE will heal and help the land. And His help can surpass more than what I can do.

So before I’m the nice, cheerful, and helpful one, I’m God’s daughter. I love Him, and I love doing what He says. He says who I am, what I am, and what I can do. I’m His. I belong to God.

Who do you belong to?