Your Significant Self

Are you a singer, dancer, or a mechanical person?  Are you extremely proud of your spouse or do you pride yourself in your children and their accomplishments?  Talents, abilities, titles, and relationships give or take from our significance as  human beings  on a daily basis.  Everyone wants to be accepted, loved and valued for something in their life.

What happens to your significance when the talent is gone, or your spouse leaves you?  Where does it go if you are abused or sudden death occurs in your life?   Like the dandelion losing itself in the wind, when change occurs and our significance is grounded only in talents, abilities, titles or relationships we can sometimes feel lost, small, and insignificant.

Before freedom, the Israelites were feeling very insignificant because of their relationship with Pharaoh.  With fear from torment and anguish in their hearts, they did not follow Moses when he first came and told them about God’s wonderful plan of freedom for them because all they saw within themselves was defeat from years of captivity under the hand of a ruthless dictator. Exodus 6:9 – So Moses spoke thus to the children is Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.  

Then, God gave Moses the command to approach Pharoah but He told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. Exodus 7:3-4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. “But Pharaoh will not heed you..”  Why on earth would a loving God do such a thing as to harden the heart of this already ruthless dictator?  The Bible goes on to answer us in Exodus 7:4……so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.  Through the judgements, God made himself known to the Egyptians.  He would now be a significant presence in their lives and they came to fear Him and see him as more powerful than Pharoah.  As well, God knew, through the judgments, that the Israelites would reach a point where they could see through their suffering to his plan of freedom for their future.    So, over and over again, God displayed His power for everyone, giving them time to see just how much they needed Him.  As the Israelites trust was building and their hearts were being softened towards Him,  God prepared for their miraculous exit through the Red Sea.   What an amazing display of love by God to His people.  The significance that Pharoah played in their lives was now replaced by the significance of who they were as children of the almighty God!  Free at last!!  Exodus 14:30-31 “So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hands of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.  Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.”

As Christians, we need to remember that our significance comes from who we are in Christ, and not through our talents, abilities, titles or relationships.  We are His unique creation, created for a purpose on purpose.  Even in our abnormalities, disabilities and our character flaws, we can feel complete and gain positive significance through Jesus Christ our Lord who fills in the gaps and completes us as we learn to live in dependence upon Him always knowing that He has our best interests at heart.  Our significant self will shine through as it is manifested through His glory and not our own, and as we seek to do His will.