Called by name

Have you ever heard God call you by name?  We are all familiar with ‘God so loved the world’ but wonderful though that is, it that can seem a little impersonal or distant.  But when God calls you by name, the God that we cannot see suddenly becomes our God, the one who knows us. I remember the thrill I felt when I realised God was speaking to me by name. I wasn’t just a believer, I was Christine.

One of my favourite Bible passages is in John 20 when following the dreadful crucifixion of their Lord, Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint the body with spices. She was distraught when she found the body had gone and when a man appeared she thought he was the gardener until he called her by name. Mary must have been familiar with hearing Jesus voice but it wasn’t until he called her Mary, that she realised he was Jesus.

Many of the great people in the Bible were called by name; Abram, Jacob, Moses, David, Paul and even Hagar. That one is a surprise. Hagar was a slave in the household of Abram and Sarai, bought out from Egypt.  When Sarai (as she was known then) couldn’t conceive the promised heir, she came up with the plan for Abram to sleep with her servant girl Hagar and get a son that way.

I wonder what Hagar thought of that. Was she pleased to be elevated to concubine or was it rather hard to sleep with an old man probably 60 years older than herself? Nevertheless she became pregnant and had no difficulty despising the childless Sarai. So much so that Abram withdrew any protection he may have had for the mother of his child and told Sarai she could do what she liked with Hagar. The despiser became despised and fled from her ill treating mistress out into the desert. 

It was there in the desert that the angel of the Lord found her and called her by name. When she admitted she was running away, the angel told her to return to her mistress but he also encouraged her that the child she bore would also have descendants too numerous to count. He did qualify this by telling her that this child would not be popular with anyone. 

Hagar though was so encouraged that ‘She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen^] the One who sees me.” 

The God of Abram now became her God – God had seen her and she had seen him. What had been second hand and impersonal now became deeply personal enabling her to return to Sarai.  

God knows each one of us by name. That is a great encouragement.  When God feels far off, remember that he will come and find you wherever you may have wandered and will remind you of his presence by speaking your name.