Called By Name
Book club * TED talk * Sermon series * Personal reading
A seemingly random list of things from my life that God very intentionally orchestrated to speak His truth- repeatedly- throughout the course of just a few days. Allow me to explain:
This began while I was reading for book club. In Flash, author Rachel Anne Ridge, describes her irritation with a neighbor who saw fit to take it upon herself to name Rachel’s family pet – a name different than its given name – because only its owner is entitled to do that. And the animal should only respond to its given name.
Later that day, as I was scrolling through Facebook, I inadvertently opened a TED talk by America Ferrera (My Identity is a Superpower, Not an Obstacle) that a friend had posted. She talked about the obstacles she faced getting started as an actress. People told her she was “a too poor, too fat, too brown Latina.” After giving some more details of her story, she said something that stopped me in my tracks. She said, “I couldn’t change what a system believed about me while I believed what the system believed about me…and I did.”
We’ve been walking through the book of Romans at church, and having completed chapter 8, the pastor asked us to share something that stood out to us from that chapter. I opened my Bible to refresh my memory, and while there are so many incredibly powerful truths in Romans 8, the part that struck me most was from verses 14-16, which says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (daughters) of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
As lastly, I was reading a book that I had actually bought for someone else, but decided to read it as well. God spoke to me there also, reminding me yet again of His place as my perfect Father and my identity as His beloved daughter and how powerfully that acknowledgement affects how I live.
Do you see it? Do you hear what I hear? A repeated message that I wasn’t actively pursuing in those moments, yet one that God knew I needed to hear – again. And again. And again and again. The One who created me, who formed me, calls me by name. He calls me chosen, forgiven, made in His image, gifted, beloved. He is the only One with authority to name me because I am His. So why, oh why, do I allow anyone else tell me that I am anything else or anything less? I also cannot change the way a system/culture believes about me while I believe what the system/culture believes about me…and I am painfully aware that I have done just that. I have the word “Beloved” tattooed on my arm, for cryin’ out loud, and yet I still fail to let what Christ has called me be enough. Oh Father, forgive me. As sons and daughters of God, we don’t have a spirit of slavery – we are free! We don’t have a spirit of fear – we go forth in humble confidence. Our identity is our superpower: we are children of a perfect Father and that means the Holy Spirit, the greatest power of all, dwells within us! I’m so thankful that my Father keeps reminding this forgetful heart of His truth, even when I don’t realize I’ve forgotten. And I love to see how He weaves His message into various aspects of my every day life.
To whom are you listening and responding? Listen and believe the Lord, the One who created you, the One who formed you. He says to His beloved chosen ones, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1 my paraphrase)
