What is in a Name

                When I was a little girl I had a very favorite toy. It was a blue stuffed bear and I named him “Blue Bare” (I was quite literal at the time). I took this toy everywhere with me. One day, my mom decided to wash the bear because it has become very dirty. When she gave it back to me I said, “That’s not Blue Bear!” I was sure that this was someone else’s toy. Upon closer examination I realized it was my bear and he went everywhere with me again. When you give something a name, it is an act of ownership. I knew the bear was mine because I gave him his name.

                In Isaiah 43:1b-2 the Lord says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are Mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flames will not burn you.” God made this promise to the nation of Israel, but when we became Christ followers, we became His people and this promise became ours as well. He will call us by name and take us through the waters and fires in life.

                I have had many occasions when I have felt overwhelmed by the waters of life. It sometimes seems that there is no end to what life can throw in my direction. First the car breaks down and we can barely afford to fix it. Then we find out that we have been underpaying on our car insurance so our next bill is huge. Then a phone call comes, there has been another death in the family. It seems to be never ending, but I take hope in God’s promise “you are Mine.” It is extremely comforting to know that I am the Lords and He will not let life overwhelm me.

                I have also had many times when I have felt burned. I think this is more of a feeling of injustice. Many crimes go unpunished and people can be merciless. For example, we once experienced a major rain storm in the town we lived in and it caused the town to lose power for about a week. People were running out of water (for those who were not on city water) and most people were out of work. When the power was finally restored, the power company decided to charge everyone who lost power a fee to make up the losses they experienced during the outage. That meant that in addition to losing work and spending a week fighting the heat with little to no water in some places, everyone now had to pay a fee to make up for the loses of a company who did not provide them services during that time. These types of things happen every day. God does not say that we are exempt, but that when we pass through the fire, we will come out unburned because He is with us.

                Lord, help me to trust in Your promises and to remember that I do not have to be overwhelmed by the waters of life because You are with me. Help me remember that I do not have to feel burned by injustice because You are in charge of justice and I can trust you to help me come out unburned. Thank you for calling me Yours. Amen.