Who am I?

"But Moses said to God, 'Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?'
And God said, 'I will be with you...'
....Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?'
God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'" (Exodus 3:11-14).

Who am I? A frequent question, sometimes answered by clothing styles, a music style, a job title, a role, a relationship. A question scribbled out in teen diaries, sometimes ticking quietly until a mid-life explosion. However, when God interrupts into our life as the All-Consuming Fire, it is a question that we face again. It may accompany a calling from God--"Who am I to do that?" Or it sidles with suffering and loss-- "Now that my husband is gone, who am I?" "I'm too sick to have the energy to do what I used to do. What am I without that sense of purpose?" "Cancer. Is that me? I lost my hair--who is this person staring out from the mirror?" "I lost my job, now what? Who am I?" Suffering snips away at the appearances, roles, jobs, strengths, abilities on which we have hung our identity. A burning bush experience with God, where he reveals himself in fire, can shatter our self-concept. His holiness can change our worldly laughter to mourning, can leave us reeling--"Woe is me!!! For I am a man of unclean lips!!! Am I really that sinful, that evil? Am I really that loved? Am I worse that I can ever imagine but more loved than I can ever imagine?"

No matter how God breaks into your life--calling, suffering, blessings abundant, a revelation of his glory, etc.--it makes us wonder, "Who am I? What is man, that you are mindful of him?"

God did not answer Moses' question, but answered it more completely than ever. Moses asked, "Who am I?" God responded with who God himself was: "I will be with you" (Hebrew:  'ehyeh 'immak--similar to I AM WHO I AM, 'ehyeh 'asher 'ehyeh). Who is Moses? He is the man with whom God is present.

Who am I in my suffering, or in a new situation, facing the impossible, having lost something or someone that defined me? I am the one who God is present with. I am God's girl. So much more so in Christ. I am in Christ. He is in me. I am sealed by the Spirit. Wrapped, closed, sealed, protected, covered, nothing can separate. In whatever I face, I am the one whom the I AM has taken residence in and claimed. I am his.

Jesus prayed... "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.... that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.... I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have more me may be in them and that I myself may be in them" (John 17:21, 22-23, 26).

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Cor. 1:21-22).

God continues to expound further on who he himself is: "I AM WHO I AM." Scholars debate the meaning of this. John M. Frame sums up: "The more recent consensus is that in Exodus 3:14 God is saying, in effect, 'I will be present (to deliver you)'... Other writers take the whole phrase as a variant of the 'self-presentation formula' in which God promises to deliver or judge, so that the people will know that he is Lord" (Doctrine of God, 39). Frame continues, listing possible renderings of the Hebrew 'ehyeh 'asher 'ehyeh, I AM:

• I am what I am. 
• I am who I am. 
• I will be what I will be. 
• I am because I am. 
• I will be because I will be. 
• I cause to be what I cause to be. 
• I am present is what I am. 
• I am the one who is. (Frame, Doctrine of God, 44).

Pastor Jim Samra reads it this way: "I AM WHO I AM for you" and notes God's name is dynamic, not static or aloof: "I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE"--I will be what you need, your fulfiller, your everything ("What's in a Name?, Calvary Church, Sept. 21, 2008).

Furthermore, this is God's covenant name, this is how he signs his promises. He was the God of the covenant, the faithful holy God. He was Redeemer, Savior because of his covenant with them, for his name's sake. He saved them because he was with them; he was YHWH, their God.

Who am I? I am God's covenant child. I am the one with whom he is. Who are you?

Reflect on God, YHWH. Praise him for Himself, for who is he, that he is with me and you, for his name.

I am what I am. 

You are God, the all-sufficient, the one who is faithful, holy, loving, gracious, compassionate. You are sovereign and independent, you are unchanged by circumstances. This is what you are. In you I find my greatest joy.

I am who I am. 

You are a person, with me, you see, you hear, you act, you redeem. 

I will be what I will be.

You see the future, you see the steps I will take. You will not change. You will be there in my time of need just as you are with me. You will supply the grace and deliverance I need when I need it. In you, I find hope and future. 

I am because I am. 

You are uncaused, far above us, yet you are mindful of me. I am because you are. Everything, my breath, my smile, my strength, my gifts, my friends and family, my circumstances, my future, are because YOU. 

I cause to be what I cause to be. 

My circumstances are not random. They are in your hands. Nothing can touch me without coming through your hand. You are sovereign over nations, winds and waves, kings, employers, disease, Satan, betrayals, death. 

I am present is what I am. 

You are with me when the dark waves of despair threaten to undo me, when I am weak and on my bed, when I feel like life takes too much energy, when I want to cry out in pain. 

I am the one who is. 

You ARE. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am because you are. I will be because you will be.