It's About His Name

March 19, 2020

Here’s a thought for the day …

Psalm 91:14 – I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

There’s something so powerful about a name.  When Heidi and I were starting our family, each time one of our 4 children were born, it was another journey to discover what their name would be.  I remember thinking to myself about how stressful this decision would be.  After all, their name would follow them the rest of their lives.  What if they hated the name we chose?  What if kids made fun of them in school?  What if we called them Ryan, but God designed them to be a Jonah?  Man … pressure!  In fact, we came to decide on each of the names of our kids in a different way.  

• Joshua – I just always loved that name from as long as I could remember.  Meaning … “God is Salvation.”

• Jonah – In the movie Sleepless in Seattle, one of the main characters was a boy named Jonah.  Heidi and I struggled a bit with it because of the Jonah in the bible.  That was until we saw it meant “Dove” or “Declarer of God’s joy and salvation.” Sold!

• Nathan – After struggling with 2 “J” names in Joshua and Jonah, we figured we didn’t want to be even more confused.  I knew a guy named Nathan at the time and his name just struck me. Meaning … “God has given.”

• Abigail – She was actually named by Pastor Steve.  Heidi had literally just gotten out of surgery where they removed her kidney with the cancerous mass inside of it.  She was 6 months pregnant with Abby.  When we all walked into the recovery room to see her, Heidi was awake.  Believe it or not, her main worry wasn’t the surgery, it was the fact that we still didn’t have a name for our baby girl.  (We struggled with girl names.). Pastor Steve said what about the name Abigail.  We loved it.  Meaning … father’s joy.  That she is!

In Psalm 91, verse 14 paints such an interesting picture about the power of knowing God’s name.  God says “I will set him on high, because he has known My name.”  Did you catch that?  God said I will “securely exalt” or “safely move you to a place of inaccessibility.”  You may feel like you are trapped and vulnerable where you are right now, but the Lord promises to safely remove you from that which threatens you.

When we first moved to the beach, our oldest 2 children were 3 and 1 ½.  I can remember one of our first family beach days we went armed with everything from umbrellas, beach toys, sunscreen and diapers.  I was carrying my youngest son Jonah as my oldest Joshua was walking next to Heidi and I.  We were walking along an area of sand that reached out from the shore about 20’ or so where the water was only about 6 inches deep.  Joshua had gotten a little ahead of us as he was running and splashing in the water.  It was calm and I figured he was safe.  BIG MISTAKE!  I can still remember Heidi saying that he was too far ahead of us for her comfort.  My response … “He’ll be fine!”  (GULP!). All I remember was Joshua was running one minute and the next he was facedown, splashing wildly, and unable to get up.  Heidi and I panicked.  It happened so fast.  I ran to him, reached down with my free arm and lifted him up out of the water.  I can still see the look of terror on his face.  Someone had dug a hole that we didn’t see and he stepped right into it and went down.  I can remember holding him up with my free arm as he was dangling in the air.  “I got you pal.  Your dad is here.”

This season feels like that to me.  We were moving right along and suddenly we stepped in a hole.  Panic, surprise, shock, terror … what happens now?  (Go buy as much toilet paper as we can!). Let’s face it, it can be tough to breath in seasons like this.  And then God’s Word reminds us … I (the Lord speaking) will lift you up out of your place of terror and fear.  Why?  (This is the good part!). Because you planned well?  Because you anticipated this?  Because you have earned my love?  NOPE!  Because you KNOW MY NAME!

What does it mean to “know God’s name?”  One word … INTIMACY!  There’s something powerful about knowing someone’s name.  When you say a name, you associate characteristics of their nature to that name.  Terry, Stan, Tony, Carol, Karen, etc.  One’s name often speaks to their nature.  So it is with God.  He said if you know my name, you know Me.  And when you know Me, I can lift you up and safely set you on high in times of crisis.  

In the Old Testament, every time Israel faced a crisis in the natural, it revealed an aspect of God’s nature in the supernatural.  Crisis over … God discovered! God my Creator (ELOHIM), God my Supplier (EL SHADDAI), God my Provider (JEHOVAH JIREH), God my healer (JEHOVAH ROPHE), God my Banner (JEHOVAH NISSI) … just to name a few.  In the New Testament, we see God as Father, His son as Jesus or Emmanuel (THE WORD OF GOD, GOD IS WITH US), or the Holy Spirit (BREATH OF GOD or OUR HELPER) Remember …

“Every season of crisis introduces you to another facet of God’s nature!”

The above statement is true only if you seek Him and look to Him in the middle of the crisis.  Can I encourage you today to spend some time remembering, not only who God has been to you in the past, but who God is wanting to be to you today?  Call out to Him by name!  Because when we acknowledge His name, it fills us with faith and trust.  It allows Him to lift us up, out of our present problems and safely into His arms of grace.  Don’t panic … we serve a God whose name is FAITHFUL!  Why not talk to Him about it today?