“What's in a
name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Man do I love Shakespeare, the drama, the language, ahhh the romance. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic in some ways; I
love a good love story, one with twists and turns, ups and downs. But I think maybe Shakespeare missed the mark
on this quote. I think that what we call
something, or someone, is of great importance.
I mean think about it, we love to hear our names called out. We love to write it down in different
ways. We would hear it in a crowd full
of conversation. We identify ourselves
by our names, by what people call us.
This thought took me down a wonderful path of healing several years ago
when someone proposed this question to me “What does God call you?” I had never thought of this. I had never questioned who God said I
was. Now this was very important for me
during this season in my life as I was struggling through figuring out who I
was, what I was going to do with my life, and where my worth laid. If you recall in scripture God often changed
the names of people at a significant point in their journey with Him. Abram became Abraham, Saul became Paul. This is important; this is how they knew who
they were in God’s plan. So I began to
pray “God, who do YOU say that I am?” I prayed for months, I cried out to Him
for an answer.
At this point in
my life I was broken, my heart was hurting, I felt useless and worthless. I had just graduated from Union University, a
private faith-based college in West Tennessee.
I was so proud of myself for my accomplishment; however I had no idea
who I was anymore. I had ALWAYS been a student;
I had always been a “good” student. I
knew what my worth was; it was attached to my transcript. Suddenly I was… what? This is where I met God, in the floor of my
living room (think criss-cross-applesauce style) with my Bible open and my eyes
flooded with tears. I was begging Him to
tell me who I was.
I was sitting
quietly staring at my feet (I have a tattoo of “beloved” in Hebrew on my left
foot). God began to stir in my heart “You
are MY beloved”. I was completely uncomfortable
with this thought. Beloved??? Really??? That sounded so intimate, so romantic?! Is that really how God felt about me? I had always thought of God as “Father”, a
concept I was comfortable with considering the absence of mine in my
childhood. This is when I realized it
was equally as important for me to know what I called God, what was His name in
my relationship with Him. He was calling
me His beloved, He was beckoning me
into a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him, one that is beyond child
and father, one that is deeper than friend.
So that is where my love affair with God began. In the floor of my living room, with my heart
poured out before Him, God began a slow dance with me. He took the lead and began twirling me around
the dance floor telling me of His love for me.
I had never felt so known, so understood! God’s desire for all of us is this intimacy,
this closeness. He is not only a father,
judge, mentor, friend, He is all of those things, but He is also the LOVER OF
YOUR SOUL. I pray that you would have
the opportunity to learn who God says you
are, that you would experience this love and intimacy when God calls you by your name.