A New Name

"and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD shall name." Is 62:2

I recently updated my twitter account.  After reading all the wonderful descriptions of some of the people in my sphere I ventured to find words to append under my name that would describe me adequately. I came up with three words.  Woman, Christ-follower. Happy.  Looking at the three words still makes me cringe a little but its a description that I can live with.  The first because that is a part of my identity that I can not run away from, the second because it is the only one of my achievements in life that I am truly proud of and the last because it is the one thing that I aspire to everyday. To just be happy.  For someone like me on some days asking me to be happy is asking for a lot but that is the story of another post, today I looked again at the those three words and I wondered why I still cringed a little.

Words have so much power, more so when either we or others direct them at ourselves.  Clever, stupid, boring, ugly, fat, beautiful, rich, poor.  Everyday in one way or another we interact with words and we put small silent labels on ourselves.  And every day when we wake up we go out with a silent agenda to dispel the negative labels and live up to the positive ones so that others may see us as we would like them to see us.  As we would like to see ourselves.  If I was more honest with myself I may have chosen another set of words to put under my twitter handle.  Words that reflected a more jaded view of myself like Woman. Broken. Secretly Struggling to be happy

But if God is to be believed ( and He is) my three words reflect just a fragment of what He sees when He looks at me. God sees beyond my struggle to my real self and He finds something to celebrate. God looks at my struggle and acknowledges it but calls me out to rise beyond it.  To see myself as He sees me.

"You shall no more be termed Forsaken nor shall your land be called Desolate any more. But you shall be called Hepzibah (My delight is in her) and your land called Beaulah ( Happily married) for the LORD delights in you" Isaiah 62:4

The bible says He delights in me. God, the creator of heaven and earth delights in me!  Another verse (Zephaniah 3:17) says He rejoices over me with singing.  God looks at me, at my sometimes desolate seeming life and finds reasons to sing about me.  It boggles my mind. How can He love me so much?  Why would He love me so much?

Romans 5:8 says  "God demonstrated His love that while we were still sinners Christ died for us"  While I was still foolish, ugly, stupid, boring... Christ died for me because in His eyes I was simply beloved.  There is no label upon me that was so ugly so repulsive that the word "Beloved" could not cover up.  No matter what accusations the enemy conjured up they disappeared, fled in the face this one word that my God placed upon me. Beloved.

Looking through the eyes of God's love I realise that I may never truly know myself as He knows me on this side of eternity, but with His help I can learn to see myself and others more clearly. It has to start with me.  It has to start today and I chose to start in a little way on my twitter page and I'll replace my three words with a few more.  A new name which the mouth of the LORD has named. One that reminds me everyday of His love for me, His inexplicable, unshakeable, unwarranted love for me and for you.  And every day when I look at it  I will seek to see myself as He sees me.

"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17