Names of God

Names. In the Bible, names held significance. They didn't just name their child a name that was pretty, they named them something that meant something. It was the same thing with places. Actually Jessica over at Apples of Gold recently posted about that (you can read her post here). But I'm not going to talk about the names of places. I'm going to talk about the names of God.

My youth group has been doing a study called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. There's a study guide - or devotional - that comes with it that we do on our own. Yesterday I read Day 1 in Chapter 4 and it was about knowing God. It talked about how as we get to know God more and more He reveals His names to us.

For instance, we may know God is loving. But when we experience His love it has a deeper, more personal meaning. There are so many names of God. When Moses asked God who he was to say sent him God didn't say one name.

Exodus 3:14, "God replied to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.'"

"I AM WHO I AM". That sentence holds authority, a sense of forever, and holds promise. God didn't tell the Israelites one of His names. He chose to reveal those names to them as time went on. It's one thing to know God is Comforter. It's another to experience that. For God to reveal those names, the truths about Himself, is to know Him personally and to know Him better as time goes on.
You could know that God is Provider, but that doesn't mean much to you personally until you experience that.

That's one way we come to know God. As  we walk through this life, God will continue to reveal Himself to us, to reveal His names. His names aren't just words, the names are attributes, truths, and hold promise.

Personally, one of the things about God I've experienced is that He is hope. I won't share the specifics, but I will say that He has shown His hope to me time after time. When all other hope seems lost, He shows up. I've shared this verse many times but it's one of my favorite verses. Psalm 42:5, "Why am I so depressed? Why is this turmoil in me? Put your hope in God for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God."

Psalm 32:7, "You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance." I've also come to know God as my hiding place. With Him, surrounded by His love, I'm safe. There I can show my brokenness, I can surrender, and I can trust Him.


Having a relationship with God isn't a one time thing, not one prayer. It's a daily thing. It's like any other relationship in your life - it takes work and time. It's a continuing relationship. It grows and you build it together. As you get to know other aspects of God's character, as He reveals His names to you personally, that relationship you have with Him grows deeper and stronger.


~


What names has God revealed to you through experiences in your life? How have you come to know God more personally?

Delays (A Short Story)

“Great. Now we’re going to be late.” Ellie sighed after hearing over the airports speakers that their flight was going to have a slight delay. Already close to two o’clock in the morning, she was ready to be at her parents’ house to celebrate Thanksgiving.

“It’ll be alright, honey.” Will, her husband, said.

“Mommy, I’m sleepy.” Their four year old daughter, Josie, tugged on her mom’s sleeve.

“I know, sweetheart.” Ellie sat back down in one of the chairs and pulled Josie up onto the chair beside her. Josie curled up against her and soon fell asleep.

Will sat down beside Ellie, next to their other sleeping child, Henry. Weary, Ellie laid her head on Will’s shoulder. This wasn’t how she had pictured spending her Thanksgiving. Originally they were going to leave yesterday, but Will had an emergency at work – heart surgery – and they had to delay their plans.

Even though she was exhausted, having been up since seven the previous morning, she couldn’t fall asleep as easily as her children could.

“Would you like me to get you some hot chocolate?” Will asked. Surprisingly there was a little coffee shop opened.

“Sure. Thanks.” Ellie smiled.

“Be back in a few.” Placing a light kiss on her forehead, he walked towards the shop. Thankfully most people were sleeping, so the airport lacked the usual hustle and bustle it usually had.

Ellie continued smiling as she looked at her sleeping children, so peaceful. She brushed Henry’s brown locks out of his eyes.

Will returned, two cups in hand. He handed the hot chocolate to her, keeping what was probably coffee for himself.

“You know, this kind of reminds me of the time we first met.” He said, settling into the seat beside her.

Ellie grinned, “Oh does it now?”

Henry stirred beside Will, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “How did you meet Mommy, Daddy?” He asked.

Will turned his attention to the half-awake six year old. “We met in an airport, one similar to this one. We were both traveling on the day before Christmas Eve when our flight got delayed. We ended up sitting next to each other, waiting. We talked for a while. Early the next morning our flight was finally ready and we had seats right next to each other. Your mother here had a connecting flight, so she wasn’t going to the same place as me.”

“Well what happened then?” Henry asked, curious as always.

Ellie picked up the story. “What we didn’t know at the time was that we lived in the same city. We ended up going to the same church together and started to get to know each other. Eventually we started dating and got married.”

Henry nodded thoughtfully before going back to sleep against his dad.

“We don’t seem to have the best record with airports, now do we?” Ellie stated, taking another sip of her hot chocolate.

“On the contrary,” Will answered with a grin, “I think we have a great one.”

~~~

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope in the Darkness

Hope. It's something we all long for. We want hope. Hope helps us get through the days. We have all had times where we feel hopeful. Yet times come when we feel hopeless, like all hope is gone.

I guess at times we feel like Job. Job 17:15, "Where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?"

When do we lose hope? How come hopelessness creeps upon us?

Depression. Sadness. Grief. Anger. Bitterness. Fear. Loss.

Those are just a few things that you may be going through right now. Maybe you feel hopeless. Maybe you even know that there is hope in Jesus, yet you still struggle to have hope. You're not alone.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 42. This is what it says in verse five and eleven, "Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God."

The Psalmist starts out this verse asking why he feels depressed, why there is turmoil in him. We've all been there. We like to ask God why. We like to question. But then the Psalmist writes, "Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God." 

Wow. He tells others to put their hope in God, for he still praises God. Despite the fact that he feels depressed, despite the fact he feels turmoil within, he still praises God. 

Psalm 71:14 sounds similar to that.  "But I will hope continually and will praise You more and more." Hope in Him and praise Him. 

I get it, though, it's hard. Hope doesn't always come easily. I have no idea what you're going through right now... maybe the loss of a friend, depression, a loved one moved away, and maybe you just feel utterly hopeless. Hold on, friend. Hold on. There's an acronym for hope I like...

H. old 

O. n

P. ain

E. nds

Hold on, pain ends. God's light can pierce through the darkness you're in right now. His love can find a way through anything. 

When I'm talk about hope in this post, I'm talking about hope from Jesus. When we put our hope in things or people those things or people will let us down eventually. But Jesus will never let you  down.

Jeremiah 14:22 puts that into words more clearly, "Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the skies alone give showers? Are You not the Lord our God? We therefore put our hope in You, for You have done all these things."

Put your hope in Jesus. I know it's hard. I'm not promising that you will always feel hopeful, but deep down in your soul you can have hope. True hope is found in Jesus Christ. 

Lamentations 3:20-22 says, "I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end."

When hopelessness creeps up on you, open God's Word, see what He has to say. Let Him speak to you in the quiet of night, speak to you through His holy Word. Don't try to do it on your own. Please, go to God with whatever you're going through. You're not alone.