St. Patrick Knew Who He Belonged To

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I know, like other religious holidays, this is another "watered....er' beered down" day when we get distracted from the true meaning of this day, but, just in case you may not know, I want to honor St. Patrick by sharing who this man was.

He was born around AD 389 in England. At 16, he was kidnapped and sold as a slave in Ireland. Six years later he escaped and returned home to Britain, but became burdened for the spiritual condition of the Irish. He eventually returned to their land as a missionary for 40 years and established more than 200 churches and led more than 100,000 to faith in Christ. It is told that he used the shamrock to talk about the Trinity. His death on March 17, 461 is remembered each year as St. Patrick's Day. "What the enemy meant for evil, God turned for good". (Genesis 50:20)

St. Patrick REALLY knew God -- and that He belonged to God. This is part of his Breastplate Prayer. Read how utterly consumed he was with his relationship with God in his prayer.

"I arise today through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise.
Christ in the heart of everyone one who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today through His mighty strength."

No doubt, St. Patrick knew God’s plan and purpose for his life. Today, you may be facing a storm of monumental proportions. Your world may be turned upside down. Maybe a dream you worked so hard to fulfill, flopped. Or your once rock-solid marriage has started crumbling. Or the cancer came back. Or something you were positive God put on your heart to do didn’t quite turn out the way you expected. I’ve learned that in these times of disappointment, failure or loss we need to be grounded in our identity in Jesus Christ. Look at St. Patrick’s prayer again. He was consumed in God. Sometimes we cave into the pressures of life, and we allow the things of this world to define us — like what we look like, what kind of car is parked in our garage, what title we hold at the office, how much money is in our bank account, our marriage, how well our kids are doing, how many followers or likes we have on social media.

But as Jesus followers, none of those things define us. Looks fade. Financial situations change. Jobs come and go, friends and followers, too. So who are we? Maybe the better question is, Whose are we? We are children of God. And because we belong to Him, we can endure even the toughest of times. Psalm 16:8 “I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

When life throws us curve balls and surprises us, it’s easy to doubt ourselves, God’s plan, even God Himself. But when we’re hurt, disappointed or frustrated by the plans-gone-awry, crushed dreams and painful losses, we can still hold on to God’s truth. Like St. Patrick, we can set the Lord continually before, in front, behind, beside, inside, underneath, when we arise, lie down or sit down. We can choose over and over to trust God and believe He’s still got a plan for our lives, even when we don’t have a clue what that is. We may feel shaken by emotions and circumstances, but we’ll always have Someone to hold on to. Someone who will never ever let us go. When we know Whose we are, it changes everything ABOUT everything.