definition.

as a child when i was reading or doing homework and came across a word i didn't know i would ask my mom or dad what the word meant. every time my dad always said: get the dictionary. now that was never the problem because surprisingly i love the dictionary. the problem was how ancient our dictionary was. see it had been passed down from my great grandfather on my dad's side and was huge, heavy, and smelled weird. needless to say i would flip through the first couple of pages and then close it and keep reading. without fail my dad would always ask: so what does the word mean? feeling guilty i would open the dictionary back up and have to find it and tell him. interesting he said. and would carry on his day. another thing that would frustrate me was in the back of said dictionary was a list of names and meanings of those names. like always mine was never to be found.
the real question is though was i really looking for the definition of my name? or was i looking for a definition of who i am? you see so many times we walk around thinking that we are defined by the things around us. the label on our clothes, the price tag on the car that we drive, the guy/girl on our arm, when in reality none of that is our definition. we are not defined by the things around us, but by a God who made us. who told us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. who made us in HIS image. who has counted every tear that we have cried, every hair that has somehow fallen out of our head. who has told us to just be patient and wait for Him. so many times we walk around thinking that oh if i only had the designer jeans, that highlighted hair, if only and the list could go on. however, we were not made for this world.
this lesson i have struggled with for the longest time. everyone wants to know and has the feeling that they belong somewhere. that someone loves them for the real them and not for who they are pretending to be. the whole time God is screaming to them His love. trying to tell them to press into Him and rely on Him alone. everything that they are desperately searching for is Him. that guy/girl will come when it is the right time for both of you. that perfect job is coming, just seek Him. when we are willing to lay it all down and let it go is when God has the opportunity to move and give us the things that we would least suspect that are the best fit for us.
are we going to keep allowing the things of this world to define us? the labels on our clothes? the car that we drive? or are we going to allow the God of the universe to tell us who we are in Him? are we going to keep allowing that guy or girl on our arm to define us, or the God who create the ultimate version of love? life is like a game of scrabble. God has given us all the letters, and even given us the word to spell out, but what are we going to spell out with the letters that He has given us?

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'the LORD is my portion; therefore i will wait for him.' Lamentations 3.22-24