Once upon a time, WildFire went on a youth retreat!
They worked their tails off to raise money and minimize costs.
They plotted and planned and plotted some more.
Meal Plans were made and Grocery Lists written;
Costco was raided and Yummy Snacks hidden.
“Iiiiii think I’ve made a mistake,” said Laura to herself.
“Not about the youth retreat but about this weird format!!”
I don’t think I can keep this story time going…
But it’s so hard to stop when the rhymes start a’flowing!!
The End.
Okay phew! 😅 (#nailedit)
So, our WildFire Retreat was awesome! And today I’m sharing some of their wisdom for our ever-so-serious devotional thought of the day 😉
The focus for our weekend away was Identity. Of course there are loads of different ways a person can be identified: their role, their appearance, their attitude, their family, etc. But only some of those things truly speak to the Identity of a person.
We can also identify ourselves in countless ways, many of which change over time and often depend on the seasons we find ourselves in. Sometimes literally even! In the winter words like ‘dreary’ and ‘hermit’ quickly sneak their way into how I might describe myself.
At the end of the day, as believers, we are learning to become more and more dependent on what GOD says about us. The identity that the Lord speaks over us matters so much more than what others may say or how they might describe who we are. And what better place to look for those identifiers than at the very beginning?
One of the coolest things that struck me over our sessions this past weekend, was the many ways we can see various parts of God’s own identity in the story of creation.
It’s quick and easy to say that God’s Major Identity Reveal in Genesis 1 is that God is Creator! Which is 100% true.
However, after some brainstorming as a group, we were able to come up with quite an impressive list of some other awesome components of God’s identity:
- Delegator – gave authority to the sun and moon to do their tasks
- Leisurely – almost seemed to take his time creating the world; was not rushed or in a hurry
- Precise and Exact – when it comes to the balance of life, each atom has its specific place… God pays great attention to detail!
- Assertive and firm with what he says – For example, God doesn’t change his mind about the names he gives to creation.
- Structured – There seemed to be an order to how creation happened; God seemed to build on the foundation of past things he had created!
- Leader
- Giver of Blessings – to all creatures and humans
- Provider – giving creation what it needed to survive
- Powerful – seen by the fact that he can just say something and it happens!
In Genesis 1:27 we learn that humanity was created in the image of God! We learn that humans were not modeled after the birds of the air or the fish in the sea or the creatures that move along the ground. Humans were not designed to separate day from night like the sun, moon and stars, nor were we created to form the barriers between the land and the seas.
The image of God is beyond complex and remains a mystery to the most devoted students and followers! And yet, what we do learn about who God is, about the things that make God tick… and the things that tick God off… we learn more about The One we were created to reflect.
May we all become increasingly gobsmacked and utterly amazed by the reality that not only were each and every one of us created masterfully, intentionally and miraculously in the image of God… God looks at Creation and says that it is very good.