Quiet Time Series: The Small “i am”

I’ve been thinking a lot about identity lately, about the difference between who I am and Who God is. It struck me one morning while praying: every time I say the words “I am,” I’m standing on borrowed ground. My being is not self-made. It’s not independent. It’s a breath drawn from the Great I AM, the One who always was, is, and will be.

When God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush, He didn’t give a title or a role. He simply said: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). That name alone carries eternity. God is self-existent. He doesn’t depend on anyone or anything. I, on the other hand, am dependent on Him for every inhale and exhale. My “i am” only exists because He is.

I’ve seen this truth play out in my life in quiet but undeniable ways. When my mom passed, I felt her absence in every corner of my home. Yet even in grief, I sensed that the same God who named Himself I AM was holding me steady. My identity didn’t collapse because it was anchored in Him. And when I left the Navy years ago, unsure of who I would be without the uniform, I learned again that my small “i am” doesn’t need a title to matter. It needs the One who is eternal.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” That’s true on one level, but deeper still is this: the only reason we can decide, live, or breathe at all is because God has already declared, “I AM.”

Borrowed Breath

Saying “I am” is really saying “God is.” Every identity statement, “I am loved,” “I am forgiven,” “I am here,” finds its root in Him. As Acts 17:28 reminds us, I’ve noticed this especially when life strips away the labels. In my single years, there were moments I wondered if “I am enough” without a partner. The answer didn’t come from social proof but from the quiet assurance that God Himself defines my worth. When I declare “I am,” I’m really echoing His presence in me.

Philosopher Meister Eckhart once said, “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.” That’s how deeply our little “i am” is tethered to His great “I AM.”

Echoes of Eternity

Our “i am” is derivative. We are sparks from the Source, waves from the Ocean, echoes from the eternal Word. Jesus made this plain when He said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He wasn’t diminishing us; He was reminding us of our truest grounding.

And yet, how easy it is to forget. I’ve clung to job titles, relationships, or even creative projects as if they could sustain my identity. But when those things shift, the fragile “i am” I built around them crumbles. Only the Great I AM remains.

As C.S. Lewis put it, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become.” That paradox has carried me through seasons of both joy and loss. My “i am” doesn’t dissolve into nothingness, it finds its fullest expression when aligned with Him.

Soul Insights

1. My “i am” is derivative, not independent.

Every time I say “I am,” I’m acknowledging that I exist only because God first said, “I AM.” My breath, my identity, and my being are borrowed from His eternal presence. This frees me from the illusion that I need to manufacture my worth. My existence is not a self-made project but a divine echo.

2. Identity rooted in God is unshakable.

Titles, roles, and seasons of life can change without warning. I’ve seen this in my own life, leaving the Navy, losing loved ones, shifting into new callings. When I tried to build my identity around those shifting sands, my sense of self crumbled. But when my “i am” rests in Him, it holds steady no matter what else changes.

3. Every breath carries His Name.

Breathing itself is a sacred reminder of dependence. Each inhale whispers His gift of life; each exhale returns it in surrender. The rhythm is simple but profound: I am alive because He is Life. Remembering this transforms even ordinary moments into worship.

4. My small “i am” carries eternal significance.

Though I am not the Great I AM, my life is not insignificant. My small echo is part of His eternal song, woven into a story far larger than myself. When I align my “i am” with His “I AM,” my presence becomes more than survival—it becomes testimony. I live as proof of His sustaining power.

5. Surrender deepens, not diminishes, my identity.

It feels counterintuitive, but the more I give myself to God, the more myself I actually become. My individuality isn’t erased—it’s fulfilled. As C.S. Lewis said, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become.” My truest “i am” emerges when it flows from His eternal “I AM.”

Self-Assessment Questions

1. When I say “I am ___,” what do I usually put in the blank? How much of that identity depends on God, and how much depends on circumstances?

2. Where in my life am I clinging to a fragile “i am” instead of rooting myself in the eternal “I AM”?

3. What would it look like for me to live each day as a borrowed breath—acknowledging that my life is sustained moment by moment by God’s presence?

Final Thoughts

Here’s the freeing truth: I am not the Great I AM. I am the small “i am,” the borrowed spark, the echo carried on His breath. But that doesn’t make me less—it makes me real. My life is not held together by my strength but by His eternal presence.

So today, when I say “I am,” I’ll remember it’s not a boast or a claim of independence. It’s a confession that my being rests in Him. Every “i am” I speak—I am loved, I am alive, I am here—only rings true because He first said, I AM.

And that changes everything. Because it means my existence is more than survival or circumstance. It’s participation in eternity. Each inhale is God lending me His Name for a moment. Each exhale is my small amen back to Him.

Every breath I take is His Name on my lips—an echo of forever.

Try This Today

The next time you say the words “I am”—pause. Notice what follows. Instead of filling the blank with fear or inadequacy, anchor it in Him: I am loved. I am sustained. I am His.

Let your “i am” echo the Great I AM. Breathe it in. Speak it out. Live it today.

Soul Path Insights