God Doesn't Know Who I Am?

"God doesn't know who I am." This frightful sentence was uttered on the February 12, 2009 episode of Grey's Anatomy. Dr. Addison Montgomery was in the chapel, desiring to pray for her very sick brother, but felt inadequate and incapable of prayer. "We only go to church on Christmas," she uttered. "God doesn't know who I am."

It could have been a terrific cinematic moment, even if it was only shot for the small screen. This vulnerable time in a great doctor's life could have been used to show just how much God cares. But then this is Hollywood, and if you've read some of my previous posts, you know how little regard I hold for finding God in Hollywood.

Dr. Callie Torres was with Addison, got on her knees, and said a little prayer about her love life, her lesbian love life, much to the delight and dismay of Dr. Montgomery.

When Dr. Torres got off her knees she said, "You're an amazing doctor, you save babies. God knows who you are."

Isn't that the quintessential Hollywood or human response to God? God knows me because of who I am and what I do. Stop to think about it, don't we relate to each other based on who we are and what we do? Isn't the initial instinct of each person walking into a room to size up everyone and determine where we fit in with this group? Don't we all want to ask, within seconds of meeting someone new, "What do you do?"

Why would we consider God any differently? Isn't He simply "one of us?" Isn't He to be treated just like one of the guys?

Yes, and no. God wants to be our friend, He wants to be in relationship with us. But He is more than "just one of the guys." He is THE guy.

We read in scripture God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24). He alone should be the object of our worship and desire. He alone deserves our praise.

Yet we try to place ourselves on a pedestal, only turning to God when things go wrong. That is where Addison found herself. She would not have gone to the hospital chapel, never have thought to turn to God, had her brother not been about to die. Without this tragedy in her life, Dr. Montgomery would have continued to believe she was the source of her strength.

"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God - you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration - what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day."
Psalm 139:13-16, The Message

Oh yes Addison Montgomery, God knows you. Not because of who you are or what you've done. God knows you because He made you.

"Not because of who I am, but because of what you've done. Not because of what I've done, but because of who you are." That is the message I would have sent to Addison. Just say what's on your heart, God will listen because that's who He is.