When life is a struggle, sometimes we wrestle with ourselves, sometimes with our circumstances, and sometimes we wrestle with God. In our search for identity and purpose, the trials of life lead us to Jesus Christ, but Jesus doesn’t prevent trials in a believer’s life.
I wonder what challenge you are facing that is leading you to discover your identity and better understand God and His creation. Whatever the challenge is, I suggest you face it head-on. As you wrestle with it, you’ll learn more about who you are. Jacob wrestled with God and God ended up changing his name.
Wrestle With God for Identity and Reality
And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
Genesis 32:24-29 ESV
Challenges reveal who we are. They can’t determine who we are. As we go through trials we should keep this in mind. The trial is a tool to draw out who we are.
To say, “I wouldn’t be who I am today without that difficult experience” is not accurate. We experience trials because of a broken, sinful world. But our sin only distorts who we are in Christ. Through God’s creative work, we are already fully defined. Sanctification is about removing the sin, not changing the identity.
Identity is to Self-image as Reality is to Worldview. Identity is who you are; self-image is who you think you are. Reality is the way the world is; worldview is how you think the world works.
To understand your identity, you should also consider your worldview. What is your relationship to everything else besides you? In comparison to God and the rest of creation, how are you unique? To help diagnose where we stand, the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard divides our worldviews into stages.
Wrestle With God for Maturity
Kierkegaard’s stages are: Aesthetic, Ethical, Religious A, and Religious B.
- The Aesthetic Life focuses on maximizing pleasure while minimizing pain. While not necessarily sinful, it is shallow living at best.
- The Ethical Life focuses on duty and responsibility. While it is a step in the “right” direction, it promotes the idea that self-righteousness can be attained. “I try, therefore, I am good enough.”
- The Religious A Life focuses on the realization, “I cannot attain any sufficient righteousness on my own.” This is the necessary posture for exercising faith.
- The Religious B Life focuses on the Gospel and living in dependence upon God’s work as a born-again believer. The Spirit-empowered believer is righteous in God’s eyes, secure in their identity, and seeking to become more like Him.
Wrestle with God for Meaning
What makes you different from others? That is the key to a confident identity. Considering your likes and dislikes is good. Comparing yourself to others can also be good. But there’s more. What brings deep satisfaction and meaning to you?
To discover your identity, enter into the following cycle:
- Define yourself as best as you can. Who are you?
- Define your worldview. What stage of existence matches how you live?
- Define your purpose. Why are you here?
- Define your goals. What do you want to accomplish next?
- Live life. Experiment. Try something new. Focus on what is most meaningful to you for a while. Attempt to fulfill God’s command to love others.
- Evaluate your experiences.
- Return to step 1 and repeat.
As you practice this discovery process, keep in mind that the past is your archive of lessons learned and your future is fixed in Christ. Learn more about enduring through trials.
Last updated 20260524
