What Do You Believe?

By Paula Williamson, guest writer

People can be terribly cruel. Sometimes it’s a parent who calls us names like arrows that pierce our hearts. Other times it’s kids in our neighborhood or school, sometimes even at church. Sometimes it’s unintentional, like when someone compares you to others. Maybe it’s even ourselves. There is someone who calls us names that do not pierce but heal. We choose whom we will believe.

It Is Written

ISAIAH 64:3 -4 The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see—a splendid crown in the hand of God. 4 Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City” or “The Desolate Land.” Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight” and “The Bride of God,” for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his bride.

A New Name

My daughter married a man with two children, and they debated what to call me. I told them my grandchildren called me Nana, but they could call me whatever they wanted. We played checkers that day, and the oldest kept asking me to have mercy on him and not jump him. Of course, I honored his request. By the end of the day, he decided my name would be Mercy. Being called that name changed me from the inside out. What we are called affects us deeply. Do you need to change what you are called? God has a new name for you.

Prayer

Lord, we have all been called many names in our lives. We ask for healing for the places that pierced us deeply. Remove those arrows and pour Your healing into those wounds. The names You have for us are names we feel unworthy to bear, the City of God's Delight, the Bride of God, but if You call us by those names, we choose to believe them over the names that once pierced our hearts. Thank You for new names.

Takeaway

God gives us new names.