Remembering Who You Were Always Becoming
Running Free - Remembering Who You Were Always Becoming
Remembering Who You Were Always Becoming
Unraveling
“…This is what the Lord says—he who created you… he who formed you…Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
—Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)
If you’ve never been an Isaiah fan, I pray you will be after these studies. Isaiah 43 establishes who you are. What I wrote in my book Boots of Resurrection regarding what I’ve survived and resurrected, Isaiah 43 answers the ground question of: Who am I after the fire and the water?
To summarize, resurrection does not just restore life; it restores motion, strength and direction. Resurrection means “A people who know “I have redeemed you; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). They no longer move from fear or survival. They move from renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31). And this is so exciting to actually live and walk out after a traumatic period or lifestyle so please forgive me as I bounce all over with my Tammy Tangents because of this great new revelation in trying to relate to seasoned as well as new believers in understanding the beauty of passages in both truth and sassy encouragement.
This is why I love the Word of God, every day my Lord brings life and light to Scripture along with deep revelations that you just never quite captured.
Summary of Isaiah 43:1 (NIV):
Isaiah 43:1 is God’s direct address to a people marked by fear, loss, and displacement. Before naming anything they have done or endured, God establishes identity: created, formed, redeemed, and called by name. The verse grounds Israel’s security not in their circumstances, obedience, or strength, but in God’s ownership and covenant commitment. Fear is confronted not by minimizing danger, but by reaffirming belonging: “You are mine.”
Opening Reflection:
Scars are not the sign of failure.
They are the seal of survival.
You didn’t walk away untouched; but you did walk away.
And that alone is a testimony.
We live in a world that worships polish.
But heaven?
Heaven recognizes the sacred strength of the wounded.
Jesus could have risen without a mark.
But He didn’t.
He chose to keep His scars.
He let Thomas trace the evidence of redemption with trembling fingers.
Why?
Because some people won’t believe the resurrection happened… until they see the wounds that lived through it.
Your scars may not be on your hands or side.
They may not be visible at all.
But they are proof of holy ground.
Evidence of battles survived.
And quiet sermons your soul now preaches; without saying a word.
Every betrayal? Every relapse?
Every season you thought you’d never survive?
They’re not just behind you.
They’re beneath you now.
You walk on what once threatened to bury you.
You carry what once tried to crush you.
So if you’ve ever wondered whether God can use someone as fractured as you…
Look down.
Those scars aren’t disqualifications.
They are invitations.
Invitations to testify.
To relate.
To carry healing in the same places you were broken.
You’re not just healed.
You’re marked with mercy.
And now?
When you speak, your scars do too.
And someone else finally believes they can make it.
Devotional Teaching:
When we lose things: people, time, innocence, sobriety, peace, we start to forget the sound of our own name.
We start to live like survivors instead of sons and daughters.
But identity in Christ doesn’t evaporate in the heat of trauma.
It deepens.
It roots.
It resurrects.
You are not what happened to you.
You are who God has always declared you to be…
Chosen. Redeemed. Named. Raised.
Shame says,
“You’ll never be the same.”
Jesus says,
“You were never meant to stay the same. I’m making you new.”
The world might only see your limp.
But heaven sees your legacy.
And that grave you walked out of?
It’s now the starting line of your next calling.
You don’t need to be shiny or loud to carry authority.
You just need to be His.
Scarred doesn’t mean disqualified.
It means marked by mercy.
Scripture Cross-References
Isaiah 43:1 – “…Do not fear… I have summoned you by name.”
Romans 8:37–39 – “…In all these things we are more than conquerors…”
Revelation 12:11 – “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”
Psalm 147:3 – “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 – “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come…”
John 10:3 – “He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.”
Most Important Takeaway regarding Remembering Who You Were Always Becoming:
The most important takeaway from Isaiah 43:1 is this:
God speaks identity before experience, so that what wounds you never gets to name you! Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus!
Before Israel passes through fire or water, exile or restoration, God reminds them that they were already claimed and redeemed. This means their future is not a correction of their past, but a continuation of God’s original intent. Redemption does not overwrite identity; it reveals it.
In terms of redeemed wounds and redemptive authority:
Wounds do not disqualify you; they clarify what God has preserved
Authority flows from being named and claimed, not from having an unscarred story
Remembering who you were always becoming is how fear loses its hold
Isaiah 43:1 teaches that the truest act of remembering is not looking backward in shame, but standing forward in the identity God spoke before fear ever entered the story.
So remember, if we’ve survived and resurrected… what does that look like? Isaiah 43 answers that grounding question: Who am I after the fire and the water? Resurrection does not just restore life; it restores motion, strength, and direction.
The world might only see your limp.
But heaven sees your legacy.
And that grave you walked out of?
It’s now the starting line of your next calling.
You don’t need to be shiny or loud to carry authority.
You just need to be His.
Scarred doesn’t mean disqualified.
It means marked by mercy.
Journaling/Reflection Questions
What names or labels have you been answering to that God never gave you?
In what areas of your life do you feel “disqualified”… and what might God be doing with that scar?
Where have you been a survivor… and where might God be calling you to be a voice for others still in that tomb?
How do you think heaven sees your story differently than the world does?
Write down what God says about you, then read it out loud like it’s already true.
If your scars could speak, what testimony would they tell?
Declaration Prayer
Jesus, You don’t call me by my shame; you call me by my name.
You knew who I was before the trauma,
during the pain,
and after the ashes.
Thank You that every scar on my body or heart tells a story of grace that didn’t give up on me.
Thank You that You still see me as worthy, redeemed, rising.
I lay down the old names:
Addict. Abandoned. Unworthy. Alone.
And I pick up the names You always spoke over me:
Beloved. Chosen. Clean. Found.
I will not answer to death when You’ve already spoken life.
I will not shrink back when You’ve called me forward.
I will not hide my scars; they are proof I didn’t stay dead there.
In Jesus’ Name…
I remember who I am.
I rise.
Amen.
Until next time…
Keep being Beautiful You!