My name is Hope Evans. I am a white female from Las Vegas, Nevada. I am an avid reader, a writer, a sewer, a Disney lover, a dreamer and a traveler. My Meyers-Briggs personality type is INFJ. I am a student, a daughter and a friend. I have brown, curly hair with a mind of its own, a nose ring and freckles. These are some of the things that might be used to describe me. However, these things, while all true, are not my identity.
I have recently had to come to terms with letting go of things that I have for so long tried to force my identity to be. I am finding that it is easy to take something in our lives that is significant to us, whether it be a sport, a hobby or another person, and convince ourselves that it is who we are. But what happens when that thing or person disappears or lets us down? Our perception of who we are is demolished, and we are left feeling lost, lonely and confused.
For me, it was my major, a job that I wanted and several relationships on which I had placed too many unrealistic expectations. I had invested and relied on these imperfect things so much that I turned to them in an attempt to determine my identity. They all came crashing down at the same time, and when they did, I was left wondering who in the world I was.
This experience, however painful, has allowed me to discover my true identity. My ultimate purpose in life is not to be a political science major, an RA or so and so’s friend. My purpose in life - the one I was hand-crafted for - is to be a child of God. As 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” My identity is in Christ alone, and no person or thing can possibly act as a substitute for that.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The minute we make the decision to follow Jesus and let God be the Lord of our lives, our identity is found in Him. Once we accept this, we are free to live out our lives without fear of being let down, because God’s plan is so much better than anything we could have ever possibly imagined for ourselves.