By Ava McClung
As I enter adulthood, I find myself constantly unmaking and remaking my image of who I am and how I fit into the world. I’m living away from home for the first time. I’m meeting people with wildly different backgrounds from my own and opening my mind to possibilities I didn’t know existed. I’m trying identities on for size and discovering new ways to define myself. Although becoming more familiar with myself is a beautiful thing, I also find that it can be very disorienting. So many things have changed that sometimes I don’t recognize myself. Which parts are me? Is anything going to stay a part of me forever?
I think this is not unique to young adulthood. Life is one big journey of discovering who you are. We are all the most experienced we have ever been, but none of us has ever journeyed through this life before. It’s everyone’s first rodeo, if you will. People were made to exist in community, and it is important that we rely on each other, but humans are not perfect. We make mistakes, we fall short and, even at our best, we can only do so much.
But the great assurance our Scriptures give us is that we don’t have to rely on ourselves. Multiple elements of our worship this morning emphasize God’s reliability in our lives. God is a firm foundation, a refuge, a source of strength, a deliverer, a stronghold, a guide and a faithful companion. When the world is chaotic, God is steadfast. When we are weak, God is strong. No matter how confused I get, I am anchored by the knowledge that God is the unchanging element at the core of my life. It is God’s sustaining power that allows me to be who I am and participate in my community.
Generations of God’s people have relied on God as a source of strength, comfort, safety and guidance. When we turn to God as the solid, reliable core of our lives, we join with generations of our siblings in faith in doing so. God is the central point around which our community revolves and flourishes. And what a blessing it is to refocus our attention and reconnect with this cornerstone of our being through worship today.