Just As I Am

I had the privilege of talking to a group of ladies from my church this past week. I shared the following message with them and feel like I need to share with you too.

       I am. What a powerful statement. Those two small words can pack a big punch. In Exodus God lets Moses know how to answer pharaoh, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14) In Revelation God uses I am again. “I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord. (Revelation 1:1) God uses I am to describe himself and so do we. I posted on my blog in May the things that I let define me and I want to share those with you again:
  I am: Carolyn and Mark's daughter
          Holly and Joel's sister
          a granddaughter, niece, and cousin
          a little girl without a father
          sad
          afraid
          a teenager without a father
          an athlete
          a band nerd
           rejected
          depressed
          a college student
          a bride without her father to walk her down the aisle
          a wife, Nick's wife, Mr. Hardy's wife, the drummer's wife
          happy
          jealous
          David and Val's daughter-in-law
          a mother
          Alex's mom
          a college graduate
          Bekah's mom
          a teacher
          afraid
          dealing with a miscarriage
          hurt
          a disappointment
          confused
          a church secretary
          no longer able to have children
          frustrated
          alone
          remorseful
          forgiven
          servant
          happy
          child of God
We tend to define ourselves with emotions and what we do. The best thing about how we see ourselves is The Great I Am doesn’t see us the same way. There are three women in the Bible that I want to talk about. I believe we can relate to at least one of these women if not all three.
The first woman is the woman who suffered from bleeding for twelve years. There was nothing anyone could do to stop the bleeding. Can you imagine the physical pain and toll this woman went through? What about the emotional pain? She obviously hurt and was drained from hemorrhaging. Then you have to think of the pain her heart felt. She was rejected and considered unclean because of her bleeding. I’m sure her “I ams” were ones that described her condition and hurt heart. This woman hurt on so many levels; just like some of us have and/or still do. I don’t know about you but there are times I’d rather have physical pain than emotional pain. I can “deal” with the physical pain better. Here is this woman weak and in desperate need of healing. Does she curl up and say my life is over? No, she knew Jesus was her last chance. She needed to get through the crowd of people to get to Jesus. This woman had so much faith in Jesus she reached out and touched the tassels on His robe. She had so much faith in Jesus healing her she stretched out her arm and touched His; which is on the bottom of His robe. The very instant her hand touched His robe she was healed. Her bleeding stopped and I would imagine her color started to return and her pain was gone. Jesus asked who touched him but no one answered at first. Then this woman afraid dropped to her knees and said, “I did”. Jesus could’ve been angry with her because he knew power left him and he was on his way out of the town. Instead he looked at her and said you are healed. Jesus literally saved her life. You can read the account in Luke 8, if you would like more than my paraphrasing. Are you the woman who reached out to Jesus in all her pain? Are you the one who sought Jesus as your last resort?
Maybe you’re not the woman of faith but instead the woman accused. Have you been brought before others to be accused of something? Most likely you haven’t been accused in a public square. More likely it’s been behind your back or behind closed doors. In these situations you usually don’t have a chance to speak for yourself. The woman accused was brought before Jesus in a public square and was prepared to die for her sins. She was caught in adultery and in those days you were stoned to death for such things. Let’s look at being accused differently for a moment. It hurts to be accused of something, but think of the shame and embarrassment when you are caught red handed. This woman stood face to face with Jesus, the only perfect person to walk this earth, waiting for Him to sentence her to be stoned to death. Instead, Jesus frees her from the death sentence. Here she stands with all of her “I ams” waiting to be condemned. Jesus doesn’t condemn her; instead she walks away a free woman.  This story can be found in John 8, if you would like the full story. Maybe you have been accused and it brought you face to face with Jesus. Rest assured if you are alive you are being accused by Satan but Jesus as your savior says, “She is not guilty”. Have you faced Jesus as an accused woman but not condemned?
If you’re not woman one or two maybe you can relate to woman three. The third woman we all know as the woman at the well. You can find her story in John 4. We’ve heard this story so many times we can close our eyes and picture the story when just the title is mentioned. Here is Jesus sitting at a well asking a woman of Samaria for water. The kicker is Samaritans and Jews didn’t “hang out”. My thought when I read this is, this woman is thinking, “what is your problem? You weirdo!” This woman didn’t seek Jesus nor was she brought to Him. She just happened to be at the well going about her life and Jesus was there at the same time. What are the odds she would meet the one man who could change her life for eternity? As their conversation continues and He starts pointing out her marriages (five to be exact) do you think she wonders am I worthy to be in the presence of this man?  Her “I ams” are probably pretty lengthy and yet Jesus is taking the time to talk to her and share who He is. He isn’t rude or condemning. He wants her to realize He is the living water and by believing in Him she will thirst no more. She believes and runs off to tell the village about Him.  Do you feel you aren’t worthy? Are you the lucky woman who by chance met Jesus?
Not much has changed since the days of the Bible. The woman of faith, the woman accused, and the woman at the well all needed Jesus. They all came to Him by different means and with different needs but they all needed Jesus to save them. We all have different stories of how we met Jesus or maybe you need to find Him now but one thing is for sure we all need Jesus to save us. Jesus was the answer then and is the answer now. Jesus accepted each woman just as they were. He accepts me and all of my “I ams” and He will accept you and all of your “I ams” too. So come just as you are. When we have Jesus as our savior others can’t see our “I ams” but they can see Jesus if you so choose to let your light shine. We will always see our “I ams” they have made us the person we are today, but Jesus is who we should strive to see and be. So the next time you see your “I ams”, remember Jesus is really who defines us. Until next time, “May Yahweh bless you and protect you.” (Numbers 6:24, HCSB)