When God Whispers Your Name

“I could have gone to college on a golf scholarship,” a fellow told me just last week on the fourth tee box. “Had an offer right out of school. But I joined a rock-and-roll band. Ended up never going. Now I’m stuck fixing garage doors.”

“Now I’m stuck.” Epitaph of a derailed dream.

Pick up a high-school yearbook and read the “What I want to do” sentence under each picture. You’ll get dizzy breathing the thin air of mountaintop visions. Yet take the yearbook to a twentieth-year reunion and read the next chapter. Some dreams have come true, but many have not. Why? Because something happens to us along the way.

Convictions to change the world downgrade to commitments to pay the bills. Rather than make a difference, we make a salary. Rather than look forward, we look back. Rather than look outward, we look inward. And we don’t like what we see.

If anyone had reason to doubt that God cared for his broken dreams, it was Moses. You remember his story. Adopted nobility. An Israelite reared in an Egyptian palace. A privileged upbringing. But his most influential teacher had no degree. His mother was a Jewess hired to be his nanny. “Moses,” you can almost hear her whisper, “God has put you here on purpose. Someday you will set your people free. Never forget, Moses. Never forget.”

Moses didn’t.

         The flame of justice grew hotter until it blazed.

Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, and something inside him snapped. He lashed out and killed the Egyptian guard. The next day, Moses saw the Hebrew. You’d think the slave would say thanks. He didn’t. Rather than express gratitude, he expressed anger.

Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian? — he asked in Exodus 2:14.

Moses knew he was in trouble. He fled Egypt and hid in the wilderness. He went from dining with the heads of state to counting heads of sheep. And so it happened that a bright, promising Hebrew began herding sheep in the hills. From the Ivy League to the cotton patch. From the Oval Office to a taxicab. From swinging a golf club to digging a ditch.

Moses thought the move was permanent. There is no indication he ever intended to go back to Egypt. In fact, there is every indication he wanted to stay with his sheep. Standing barefoot before the bush, he confessed,

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? — Exodus 3:11

Why Moses? Or, more specifically, why eighty-year-old Moses? The forty-year-old version was more appealing. The Moses we saw in Egypt was brash and confident. But the Moses we find four decades later is reluctant and weather-beaten. Had you or I looked at Moses back in Egypt, we would have said, “This man is ready for battle.” Educated in the finest system in the world. Trained by the ablest soldiers. Instant access to the inner circle of the Pharaoh. Moses spoke their language and knew their habits. He was the perfect man for the job. 

Moses at forty we like. But Moses at eighty? No way. Too old. Too tired. Smells like a shepherd. Speaks like a foreigner. What impact would he have on Pharaoh? He’s the wrong man for the job. And Moses would have agreed. “Tried that once before,” he would say. “Those people don’t want to be helped. Just leave me here to tend my sheep. They’re easier to lead.”

Moses wouldn’t have gone. You wouldn’t have sent him. I wouldn’t have sent him. But God did. 

• God said Moses was ready.

And to convince him, God spoke through a bush. (Had to do something dramatic to get Moses’ attention.) “School’s out,” God told him. “Now it’s time to get to work.” Poor Moses. He didn’t even know he was enrolled.

God puts us back in service to remind us that He cares for us.

When we make mistakes, He does not banish us to a spiritual junkyard. No, He salvages our mistakes because He cares for us. He removes the rust and grime, buffs out the scratches, and hammers out the dents in our frame until we are in working condition again.

The voice from the bush is the voice that whispers to us. It reminds us that God is not finished with us yet. Oh, we may think He is. We may think we’ve peaked. We may think He’s got someone else to do the job. But if so, think again.

God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure He will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. — Philippians 1:6 NCV

Did you see what God is doing? A good work in you. Did you see when He will be finished? When Jesus comes again. May I spell out the message?

• God ain’t finished with you yet.

Your Father wants you to know that.

This is what the Lord says... ‘I have summoned you by name; you are Mine’. — Isaiah 43:1

I can’t say that I’ve given a lot of thought to my given name. But there is one name that catches my interest. A name only God knows. A name only God gives. A unique, one-of-a-kind, once-to-be-given name. You may not have known it, but God has a new name for you. When you get home, He won’t call you Alice or Bob or Juan or Geraldo. The name you’ve always heard won’t be the one He uses. When God says He will make all things new, He means it. 

You will have a new home, a new body, a new life, and — you guessed it — a new name.

To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it. — Revelation 2:17 

Isn’t it incredible to think that God has saved a name just for you? One you don’t even know? We’ve always assumed the name we got is the name we will keep. Not so. Imagine what that implies. Apparently, your future is so promising it warrants a new title. The road ahead is so bright a fresh name is needed. Your eternity is so special no common name will do.

So God has one reserved just for you. There is more to your life than you ever thought. There is more to your story than what you have read. There is more to your song than what you have sung. A good author saves the best for last. A great composer keeps his finest for the finish. And God, the author of life and composer of hope, has done the same for you. 

The best is yet to be.

And so I urge you, don’t give up. And so I plead, finish the journey. And so I exhort, be there. Be there when God whispers your name.

The Heart of the Matter

• God wants you to look forward instead of looking back.
• God won’t be finished with you until Jesus comes again.
• God has a one-of-a-kind name for you that only He knows.
• God urges you to run the race and finish the journey.

Memory Verse

Write out the words of 1 Corinthians 8:3 and memorize it. Reflect on what these words mean to you.

The Heart of Jesus

Much is made of Peter’s humorous outburst when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. Peter first insisted that Jesus should not stoop to scrub his toes, then begged him to wash his head and hands, too (see John 13:3–9)! But Peter wasn’t the only one whose sandals were removed and whose feet were doused. 

Jesus gave this care to each one of the twelve, one at a time. He looked into the eyes of Thomas. He soothed the tired feet of Matthew. He poured the water over Judas’s feet. Andrew felt the Lord’s hands massage his soles. Bartholomew’s feet were toweled by his Teacher. James met his Master’s eyes over the basin. John returned Jesus’ smile as the water splashed. One by one. Jesus tends to His people individually. He personally sees to our needs. We all receive Jesus’ touch. We all experience His care.

Excerpted with permission from Experiencing the Heart of Jesus for 52 Weeks by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

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Your Turn 

There’s more to your story and you have a new God-given name. He hasn’t given up on you. He cares about you! Look forward! ~ Devotionals Daily