What was the Apostle Paul's identity?
It certainly could not have been popularity. Or success. Or physical freedom. He could not have found security in being safe from harm. By the time he wrote the letter to the Galatians, we know he already had serious eye problems. He did not find his identity in his family. There is not a word in the Bible about his human family.
Paul did not find his security in his intellect and says so.
He had no job security.
Why does the heart burn so, when reading his epistles?
Because he found His security in the Lord. And, because even deserted and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel, beaten and worse, his words reflect his determination to find his identity in Jesus Christ.
When a thing eats and eats at you, it means there is an issue with your identity. Something that is highly valuable to you is either being threatened or has been shaken or taken away.
I have a retired missionary aunt. She spends all her time knitting and is passionate about it. She just turned eighty years old, and she is still knitting up a storm. It seems that the older she has gotten, the more she has enjoyed her hobby. But last night she told me that she thinks she is getting arthritis in her elbows and it might be because of the knitting. Then she said "I told the Lord that if He wanted to take the knitting, it is fine with me."
I drank in that moment. Not because she might not be able to knit, but because no matter how much knitting means to her, it is nothing compared to her trust in Him.
Address the matter in prayer. Don't you want to live and move and have your being in Him? (Acts
You can't fix anything, but the One who holds the stars in Place can fix you in an instant.
Soldier, what is the object of your longing?
Make sure it is the Lord.