It Is What It Is
Updated: Jan 31
"And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.”'' Exodus 3:14
The expression I say quite frequently—people who know me well know this—is “It is what it is.” I guess when said, I’m trying to convey the at-present reality (sometimes, permanency) of the situation. Essentially, I’m saying, This is it. Nothing more. Nothing less. A fact. Can't change it. So accept it. Go with it. Work with it.
During the six years that I taught high school English in Ecuador, I must have said it quite frequently because a co-worker bought me a decorative plaque that read “It is what it is,” which she had found during one of her visits to the States.
To me—though, most certainly, not to diminish the weight and glory of God’s identification of his core essence, by my modern-day comparison—“It is what it is” is similar to God’s self-identification in Exodus 3 and how He wanted to be known to his dearly loved, most treasured people: I AM WHO I AM.
I AM WHO I AM.
A fact. Can't be changed.
Permanently and reliably inscribed into Earth's existence.
An eternal reality that has no beginning. And has no end. Even if you or anyone else—even in the hard moments of life—feels or thinks or believes differently, still, I AM WHO I AM.
I’m God—the All-Wise, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, All-Sustaining Creator of Heaven and Earth. The One who speaks and it's accomplished. The One who's in charge of everything, who reigns and rules over all. The One whose Word is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH that usurps all earthly realities. The One who's ever-present, ever-faithful, and so infinitely more.
Know it. Believe it. Embrace it.
In every day of your sojourn and in every circumstance you face, rest securely on the rock-solid reliability of who I say I am in the pages of my Holy Word.
Because WHO I SAY I AM—not your present-day problems or piercing pain—is your TRUEST REALITY.
IT IS WHAT IT IS.
