The lady’s room is a public place where women always seem to form connections. There we all were, at a jazz concert during intermission, waiting our turn to use the restroom. As I stood in line, a woman caught sight of me in the mirror, turned around, and exclaimed, “I know who YOU are!” Despite not knowing her name, I recognize her from church. Suddenly, it came to me—she had commented on my arms after a Sunday service. There are several ways we identify one another as individuals. A prominent attribute is one way, like hair, physique, or a smile.
Her comment lingered in my thoughts because I have been praying for God to show me who I am. One way to hear God speak is through words that resonate deep within your heart. Since we’d had a brief interaction at church, I felt she knew me, but she didn’t KNOW me, if you know what I mean.
God, Show Me Who I Am
Only God, our creator and designer, knows how best to answer this prayer. For the past few months, I’ve prayed this phrase daily. Today, an answer came to me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches.” John 15:5
“This is Who I Am,” says the Vine.
“And I know who you are, Alida, a branch.”
Like a child, my mind immediately has questions. The most pressing one is, “What does that even mean?” I realize this is not about who I am as a unique individual. Notice that the ‘you’ in the passage is plural and not singular, so we must understand who we are in light of who He is. We are branches connected in identity by the Vine.
Connected through Him
In a time when social media calls for us to stand out and be known as an individual, God reminds us, (and by us I mean me), that we are who we are because of Him. We can learn new aspects of ourselves living, working, and being in community with one another. Often, the desire to belong can cause us to conform to an image we deem acceptable by others. But, that’s not what God’s goal is for us. John 15:5 serves to remind us who He is and how we fit together in Him.