Called by name

What's in a name?

Abram --- Abraham
Sarai --- Sarah
Simon --- Peter
Saul --- Paul

Why does God change peoples' names? Sometimes it's because He gives us a new ministry - as wife, then mother, in my case. For Simon, it was because he was planning to build a Church upon the foundation of the eleven disciples, including Peter ("Rock"). Summer in ministry is often a time busy with praying, planning, and preparing for the next program year. What is the ministry God is calling us to in the next 12 months? Is it basically what we are doing or are there new avenues to explore? Should we stay on the path we have been and just hone our traveling, or is God calling us to step onto a new, unexplored path for a time?

I don't know what questions each of you may have for God in this arena, but I know that God hears your questions. Tommy Walker's "He Knows My Name" is a gentle reminder of that:

I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in His hand

I have a Father
He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And hears me when I call
He hears me when I call "He Knows My Name" by Tommy Walker -- 1996 Doulos Publishing (Maranatha! Music [Admin. by Music Services])

If you are asking questions - either personally or in your ministry area -- know that the God who created you, who redeemed you, who calls you by name...who knows you by name...hears you.

^1-4 But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Beloved,
the One who got you started, Israel:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you. (Isa. 43 MSG)

Thank you, God, for knowing us, loving us, redeeming us. Thank you for hearing each word we say, each tear that falls, each question that explodes. Thank you for calling our names and making us yours. We pray you would pour out your wisdom and guidance upon this staff, upon this church, upon each of us as precious Beloved. We need to know Your will and Your ways for our ministries and our lives. Help us to know that you have called each of us and will never let us go. In Christ's name, Amen.