Finding my Identity (PTSD, panic attacks, etc. part 2)

In my last post, https://hirnhomeschoolers.com/ptsd-panic-attacks-and-daily-overcoming/, I began sharing how I have learned some things over the years to over come my real life afflictions.

In 2018, I suffered a severe trauma, and it rocked my world.  But it never shook my faith.  I never doubted who I am, or whom I believe in.

Why?

Because I was secure in my identity as a child of the most High King, Ruler of Heaven and earth.

If you want to overcome trials and tribulations, if you want to survive the afflictions of this world, then you have to be firmly grounded, rooted in your relationship with Yehovah, God Almighty!

This is the first step to living victoriously, day by day.

I was so blessed that when I was a newborn baby my parents, became radical believers in Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior.   They placed their lives in God’s hands, and they believed in the Bible as the truth.  This began a journey for me from an early age, of seeking after Truth with my whole heart.  My parents, and older sister, read their Bibles daily, and it planted a desire in me to do the same.  I loved going to hear a good teaching from the word of God, even as a very small child.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  That has not changed even now, as a 46 year old woman, I daily desire to know more about my God, and His Son, and the best way to do that is to daily read His Word, and to meditate on it.

I haven’t always been a good reader, and even now there are times when reading is a challenge for me.  I am dyslexic, and sometimes it is just hard to read.  But I love to read the Bible.  There are days when I would love to just be alone all day and read and ponder His Word the whole day.

When I was a little girl, I remember my mom praying over me that I would have a hunger and thirst for God’s Word.  That prayer stuck with me, and when I got pregnant with my first child it was the prayer I began to pray over my children.  That simple prayer has changed our lives.

But let me get back to how to overcome the day to day trials and tribulations.  This is important, and I want to be sure you hear this.

The first thing you have to do to overcome a lie is to know the truth.

Often when we are overly stressed, have a tragic incident, or our health is failing, we become exhausted, scared, and worried.  But it doesn’t have to remain this way.  The reason we become such a mess, is that satan loves to kick us when we are down.  Yes, satan is real, and he is out to seek and destroy.  He has a multitude of demons that follow his commands and do his dirty work.  Like God and angels, satan and his demons, can be everywhere.  They move around on this earth, they speak lies into our ears, they place lies all around us.  Billboards, on the internet, on television, in books, and even out of the mouths of people we love, come the lies of satan.

When I was a little girl, my mom gave me a devotional book, called “the devil made me do it.”  The daily devotions were about self control, and discipline as a Christian.  The point of the book was that we can not blame the devil for our wrong decisions, our sin choices.  It was actually a pretty good little devotional.  But sometimes in life it seems like so many things are out of control, and we can’t stop our thoughts, and sometimes our actions.  We feel like, some other “force” is at play in our bodies and mind.  Maybe we don’t call it the devil, maybe we give it a diagnosis, like bipolar disorder, PTSD, or some other mental or physical illness.  Maybe we make excuses like, I am just so exhausted, my kids are driving me crazy, or you just wouldn’t understand.  When we use these excuses or any others for justifying bad behavior, we are say, “the devil made me do it.”

When we make excuses like these, it is because we do NOT know who we are in Messiah.  We truly have not claimed our inheritance as a child of the one true God.  Because in the Kingdom of God there is no excuses for bad behavior.

So, how do we overcome?  We find our true identity, and we claim it over and over, until we believe it.  Belief is an action.   Once we believe we are who the Bible says we are then we live it.

So, let’s look at some scripture to find our identity.

Before we can figure out who we are we must know who God is.  The answer to that question begins at Genesis 1:1 , the very first verse in the Bible.  Genesis 1 and 2 are the records of the creation of the earth and everything in it, including man.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

God is the creator of all, and He created us in His own Image.  We are a reflection of our Creator. This must be the foundation of what we believe, or everything else is irrelevant.

The next thing we must believe is that God is One, yet multi-dimensional.

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. Deuteronomy 6:4

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

There are many verses to support this truth, but for this article I will just use two.  There is only one God, His name is Yehovah.  His name is Hebrew and it means, I am, I was, and I will forever be.  The ten commandments found in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy tell us that God wants us to worship only Him, and nothing or no one else, but Him because He is a jealous God.  This is extremely import to our identity that we understand there is only one God.  Yehovah God, created us and everything in this world.  He is perfect and Holy, He is Eternal and All knowing.  There is none like Him.

He is a loving God and He created us for Himself.  He created us to live with Him.  But He is Holy and Perfect and can not be corrupted.  He can not sin, nor can he tolerate sin.  Sin is the breaking of the law.  The law is the order and character of God.  In the beginning of creation, man and woman sin by disobeying God’s law, command.  You can read about it in Genesis 3.  God loved us, mankind, so much that He desired for us to live according to His law and order, but He gave us the choice to believe if it is truly the best way.  We each have to decide if we believe that the Bible is true, if God is One, if God is loving and perfect, if His Law is best, if we believe in His redemption plan through His, son Yeshua.

If we choose to believe all that is written in God’s Word, then our identity is a child of God.  I could go on and on about our identity in Messiah, but the truth is scripture speaks better than I.  So, if you read nothing else today, but these following two passages I know that you will be encouraged.

In these following passages we are given the key to living in our true identity as children of God.  As a child of God, we must speak like a child of the King.  We must behave like the child of a King.  There is no excuses for bad behavior.  We are royalty and we have responsibilities.  Our thoughts, words, and actions are proof of our beliefs.

Do you really believe you are a child of God?

Then live like it!!!!

1 John 3:1-10 New Living Translation (NLT)

3 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. ² Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. ³ And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

⁴ Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. ⁵ And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. ⁶ Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

⁷ Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. ⁸ But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. ¹⁰ So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

⁵ If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

⁹ Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. ¹⁰ And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. ¹¹ The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

¹² God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. ¹⁴ Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. ¹⁵ These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

¹⁶ So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. ¹⁸ He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. ²⁰ Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. ²¹ So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

²⁶ If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1;2-26

Finding my identity in Messiah day by day meant reading and believing every word in the Bible was written for me and applying it.  So, even though I still have trials and tribulations, I am secure in my identity, and I know that I know who is my Creator, Redeemer, and Friend.

Shalom

Written by Katie