“Having an identity is one thing. Being born into an identity is quite a different matter.”
Henry Rollins
Gang signs, foul language, and pants hanging so low that the crack of the kid’s butt was showing…
These were familiar sights that greeted me each day when I taught in the Projects, the inner city schools of Los Angeles, California.
There was one student, whose amazing talent in art, really grabbed my attention. He could draw the most amazing pictures I had ever seen. Each with such intricate detail.
Though only in eighth grade, he had garnered enough attention that a comic book company noticed him and hired him to draw for their comic books.
The downside…his art was filled with extremely dark and evil looking images.
I would compliment him on his drawings and encourage him in his gift (although this was tricky because I didn’t like the darkness in it). But he did have a tremendous talent that I wanted to encourage.
One day at lunchtime I saw him working on a drawing and I struck up a conversation.
Once again I complimented him on his art as I leaned in to see what he was working on.
During the conversation, he told me his dad was a warlock and into witchcraft. Suddenly, his eyes changed right before me and I was looking face to face with a demonic presence inside of him!
He stopped talking in mid-sentence as the demon took over and said in a sinister voice, “I know who you are.”
That statement sent chills down my spine because I knew I was speaking to a demon.
I was completely speechless.
I just walked away.
That moment is forever etched in my memory because the demon knew who I was more than I did.
He knew who his father was, but I didn’t truly know who my Father was and the authority I had in Christ. I was living a watered-down Christian walk at that time in my life.
Who am I?
That demon knew, but I really didn’t.
In emerging out of a Wilderness experience, God begins to reveal identity to you and who you are in Him.
You begin to rise up in the authority that He has given you and find your voice.
That is the ultimate selfie…to know the authority you carry because you are God’s son or daughter.
When you know the authority that Jesus has given you, you can rise up against the enemy in ways you never thought possible.
Today, if you are going through a tough time in the Wilderness, know that you will find your voice and your true self. You are discovering the authority that you carry because you belong to Father God. You will never be the same.
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and
to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
Luke 10:19 (NIV)
One fateful decision landed me smack in the middle of my own Wilderness…
Though I was obeying God’s voice, I spent the next several years “walking on water,” even though it felt more like I was treading water. A Journey Out of the Wilderness is for people going through a rough time—a Wilderness experience—where you feel as though you are “down for the count” and ready to give up. Wilderness Wanderers feel as though they are doing laps around the mountain, passing the same tree over and over again wondering, “Will this never end?” However, being in the Wilderness will be one of the most transformational times of your life.