What -vs- Who

Someone I love dearly is sitting for an examination very soon. This will not be their first time taking this exam. A year ago, just prior to taking the exam the Lord put something on my heart to tell them so I passed it on. While I do not remember exactly what I said the gist was… The examination is simply a means to an end. You are blessed that you have found something in your life that you love, are passionate about and can make a living wage doing. So, go into the exam with that understanding and have fun. Don’t let this exam steal the love you have for your chosen vocation. The adversary attacks us where we are most vulnerable. He has identified this area in your life. So, go in to the exam with a different attitude. That is it, have fun. My loved one said they had never looked at it that way and thanked me.

Fast forward a year…Time is fast approaching for my loved one to retake the exam and they recently asked me if I could provide any words of encouragement. To be honest I have been at a loss. It was not me who provided the words the last time after all. I was simply a vessel. The journey of listening for a new message did bear fruit. While this is not a message for my loved one it is a message from which anyone can benefit.

In this and many other societies we treat examinations as if their outcome is a referendum on who we are. When in fact they are at most what set the tone for what we are. Their outcome may say if you are a doctor, lawyer, nurse, teacher or engineer. The mistake we often make is to think that what we are defines who we are (I know I have been guilty of this on occasion) but who you are cannot be defined by a single exam but by how you live your life. Are you kind, gentle, selfless, loving, thoughtful, amiable? These things are what truly define who you are. What does it mean to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer or nurse if you are mean spirited, shallow or narcissistic? I personally would rather be remembered for having been a loving, selfless, kind, God loving janitor as opposed to a mean spirited doctor. So, while an examination may affect what you become they have no bearing on who you become unless you allow them. Allowing what you are to define who you are will have drastic consequences to who you are if you can no longer be what you want.

Does what define you?