Defining Yourself

What defines me? What do I allow to determine my identity? Far too often I fall into the trap of letting my profession describe who I am. I don't believe I am the only one who thinks this way. It's a natural reaction based on how our society defines success. We've forgotten that what we do is part of who we are, but it isn't the single greatest characteristic. If we follow our passions and use our God-given abilities this can be a significant portion of our identity, but on its own cannot be complete.

This incomplete practice misses important pieces of who I am and the roles I am called to fill (husband, father, son, brother, and friend.) Only labeling myself by what I do ignores my personality, life history, and quiet passions. My business card is a single-dimension representation of a multi-dimensional person and there is no way it can accurately represent all of who I am.

I am more than my career even when I am the one who sometimes forgets it.

Failure of Nerve: Career Path

(This is part five of a series of blogs on failure of nerve. Click here to read the introduction blog.)

It's becoming more common to change your career path in the middle of life, but it's still not an easy decision to make. I still remember being completely unprepared when God offered me the opportunity to leave the high school level and step into ministry. I mentally and spiritually battled through the decision for four days before deciding to take the leap of faith. It was difficult to think about leaving behind a program that I had worked diligently at for years, the incredibly close friendships that had been developed, and the young lives that I was having an impact on each day. It was a difficult enough decision that I changed my mind several times before saying yes. In fact, I had firmly made up my mind to say no, but was encouraged by my wife's direct, gentle honesty and a good friend's counsel. 

I attribute my hesitance to my failure of nerve. Leaving something that I knew well and was good at was an enormous risk. For the most part I knew what the future held for me at Mainland and the path that I could choose to walk down for future advancement and personal goals. The potential of where God was leading me was much more abstract than what I already had in front of me. I had to set aside my trepidation and trust that God's plan was more fulfilling than the one I was already on. 

How many people walk up to the edge of new opportunities and then quietly shrink back to their "comfortable" present reality? It's a definitive leap of faith to change our career-a part of our lives where we place so much of our identity. At the root of our indecision is a lack of trust in God's power to direct our lives and our fear at letting so much change take place. Let God keep transforming you and opening you to the potential for new possibilities. Don't let the failure of nerve keep you so focused on job security that you miss out on the grand adventure that could be waiting.