Are You Ready for a Name Change?

Twenty years ago at 5:30 in the morning I would go to morning prayer at Church on the Rock.  As I drove along the service road of I-20 in Rockwall County, this song would come on the radio and I would sing along.

 

It was my heart cry.

I will change, will change your name
I will change, will change your name

I will change your name
You shall no longer be called
Wounded, outcast, lonely or afraid

I will change your name
Your new name shall be
Confidence, joyfulness, overcoming one
Faithfulness, friend of God
One who seeks My face

 

I was all of that: wounded, outcast, lonely or afraid - wounded by years of abuse, the family black sheep, lonely in so many ways because I counted on Ray to complete me instead of the fullness of the Father's love and afraid of never being good enough to be accepted.

 

Oh, I kept up a brave front and I was very religious but actually had divination that I thought was a prophetic anointing. 

 

My husband was a truck driver and gone up to three months at a time. I had three teenagers. Frankly, I was a mess.

I took this song as a promise, but I never allowed God to complete the work. A name change is a journey. Like the fruit of the spirit all have to manifest. This name change requires that not only my name be changed, but first, I must be changed spirit, soul and body.

A couple of years later, n the middle of the process, someone presented me with the idea that I should help out a ministry in a small kingdom called Lesotho which is surrounded by South Africa. What a challenge! I felt special, chosen. You see when you are wounded, outcast, lonely or afraid, you need to be validated. Now I found my value.

Ray and I left for another continent. It was a good idea just not a GOD idea. It wreaked havoc on the lives of many family members. Oh, there were some good things that happened. Quite a few actually. But in just under a year we were home in Florida, repairing the damage our leaving, our detour, had done.

Our value is never found in what we DO for God.

Our value is found in who we will BE for God.

I will never know what would have happened if I had stayed my course. All I know is as I submit once again, already a 12 year process, at Pleasant Valley Church and Be in Health ministries,  I am beginning to see His promises of:

Confidence, joyfulness, overcoming one
Faithfulness, friend of God
One who seeks His face.  

It is one thing to want to have your name changed. It is quite another to not only submit to the changes but stay the course. It is not a microwave moment, but a journey. 

Are you ready for a name change?