Yesterday a boy asked for my name.
In that instant I was thrown back to my high school days when it was fun and exciting to be noticed by a boy, to be known by my name. As I stood in that cafe alone, with my thoughts and that boy, I had to laugh.
"Where in the world did that come from Rachael?" I asked myself.
Then I heard it!! My name, called from behind the counter, "Rachael."
With presence of mind entering back into reality and the lunch crowd before me, I realized one thing!
My drink was ready! I simply ordered a latte, and he asked for my name so it could be called when the latte was ready. He didn't really notice me, he was just doing his job!
I was in that cafe to meet a friend. We do that once a month to connect, to share life, to encourage each other on our journeys . . . to be known by one another.
I would say hundreds of people probably know my name. There may be a hundred or so people who know something about me in addition to my name. Less than fifty people know me pretty well. About a handful of people really know me.
There is one man who knows me intimately.
And there is one God who KNOWS it all, my story from beginning to end. For it was He alone who formed my inward parts and covered me in my mother's womb.
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14a
This week I just finished reading a book where all the characters' names were changed throughout the story. They had names like Self-Pity, Helpless, Bitterness, and Moody. As they grew in relationship to the Shepherd in the story, He began to transform their hearts and therefore, change their names. Their new names were changed to Willingness, Endurance, Strength, and Stedfast.
The greatest gift I have received from my parents was my name. This past year I chose to walk closer to the Lord than I had the previous 25 years of being a Christian. And He began to call me by my name.
Rachael
It means female ewe. . . sheep. One evening I wrote a message I felt He was speaking to me.
You, my sheep, are mine. And you have wandered too close to the fence. You have fallen in ditches. Be careful because it is dangerous. Stay close to me, your Shepherd. I will protect you
I am a sheep and He is the Shepherd-a good Shepherd who comes to find me when I go astray.
There is a Third Day song with the line, "There will come a time when you can’t make it on your own." I believe that we all come to that point sometime in our lifetime. But unfortunately when things get really hard, and He starts calling our names, we don't always listen and respond. I've known too many people who have fallen into those ditches of helplessness and self-pity. Getting too close to the fence has resulted in moodiness and bitterness causing doubts that create a life of being blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6
I am thankful that the Lord did not have to change my name like He did for Abraham, Jacob and Peter. But I do believe it is a blessed thing when He does that in the life of one of His sheep. It is part of the transformation process for some. Part of my transformation was being given ears to hear. To hear Him call my name, to be known by my Shepherd and to know His voice.
"And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." John 10:4
My prayer for everyone who reads this is that you recognize the Good Shepherd in your life somehow this weekend. Whether it be in the quiet or in laughter, in nature or in the mess, or in a face of a loved one or in the mirror.
Have an extremely blessed weekend friends!!!