Heads up! Today is a bit longer than I aim to have the daily readings. This principle is so important I didn’t feel right cutting it short.
We are making so much progress. An invitation has been issued to come out of hiding, to step out of the pit. As you do, you are invited to lament your loss. Were you able to lament? Did it seem strange to say out loud all the ways your situation hasn’t been fair or what you were expecting? Were you able to put into words what it has cost you to hide? Were you able to enunciate what you lost when you were hurt/wounded?
Today we are going to learn the third principle to help us change the way we think about ourselves and, in turn, change the way we interact with the world around us.
Read: Judges 6:11-18
Third Principle: God will give you a new name!
We noted yesterday the angel’s greeting to Gideon. He said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you.” He expressed God’s perspective, the way Gideon was seen by God.
In verse 15, Gideon shares his perspective. He says, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Mannasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” His view of himself is quite different, wouldn’t you agree?
What might that sound like in today’s vernacular? It might go something like this: “You don’t understand. My family is not well thought of in our town. We come from the wrong side of the tracks. And besides that, I’m the runt of the litter, the butt of the jokes. Everyone but me has {education, looks, money, style, jobs, skills, personality, persona, influence, opportunity}. I’m a nobody.”
We will never, and I feel confident in saying never, become all we are intended to be if we allow lies to define who we are and where we go. We might be from the wrong side of the tracks, and we might have fallen a time or two along the way. But those things don’t have to determine who we are now!
Once we step out of hiding and we lament what put us there in the first place, we need to live from a place of truth about who we are. God specializes in giving his children new names. Names that express who they really are created to be, not just wishful thinking. Names that define and determine our future.
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham because he was going to make him the father of many nations. (Abraham means “father of many.”) Sarai’s names was changed to Sarah. Jacob was changed to Israel which means “God fights.” And the list goes on and on.
Read: Isaiah 62:2; Revelation 2:17
It is time to stop living by the name you have embraced. Maybe it is stupid, fearful, worrier, ugly, worthless, tag-a-long, third-wheel, less than, no good, weakling, shorty, fatty. Gideon said he was the runt but God said his name was Mighty Hero! He saw something Gideon could hardly imagine but the rest of the story proves it is true.
Before you leave this post today, ask the Father what your name is. How does he see you? Are you Warrior Princess? Honest One? Beautiful? He says in Revelation that you will have a new name and it can only be known by you, the one who receives it. Receive it today. As a sign of acceptance, consider finding a white stone and write your new name on it.
You are fully loved! His priceless possession! Holy! Righteous! Blameless One!
Out of the Chaos 