By Name

I've been working on my homework for Outbreak and just had  a great reminder as I was reading through John 10. I love this passage about the sheep and the shepherd and how the sheep follow the shepherd because he calls them by name.  vs 3b "He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."  Part of this week was about the fear of being forgotten and I admit that I often times feel this way, especially when I am in the drudgery of day to day life with three small little ones. They drain everything out of me and sometimes I just have to wonder, "Lord, do you remember that I am here? Can you cut me a break with all the whining, crying and screaming?"  It gets old, it gets lonely, it feels like I am forgotten.  I wonder if that is how Moses or David felt for all of those years out in the field tending sheep?

So, today was a sweet, tender touch of, "Jen, I haven't forgotten you.  I know you by name."

That is astounding to me that the Lord of all of the Universe, knows my name. I mean, I am horrible, horrible, horrible with people's names.  I know all the tricks of the trade. You know the ones: call someone by a generic name. If you are from the South, honey, will do or Bless Your Soul.  You don't need a personal name to say, Oh Bless You.  For those of you who are married, you know this one well, "if I don't introduce you by name, be sure and step in and introduce yourself." The hope is the other person will give his/her name while saying, "nice to meet you."  Deny it all you want, but I know that we have ALL played that game.

The Lord though, doesn't need that. The Lord knows, and the Lord calls each of us by our own name.

I started thinking about that and remembered that I had once written in my Bible somewhere in Exodus 3, "The Lord is a personal God."  It stemmed from the repetition of the phrase, "I am the God of your fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."  The Lord didn't just say, "I am God," though He did say, "I am who I am."  He also referred to himself as the Lord of people. He's not an impersonal God, but a very personal one.

It made me think of these verses:
Exodus 3:4 "When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!'"

I Samuel 3:10 "The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!'"

Luke 1:13, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah."

Acts 9:3 "He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to Him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'"

John 20:16 at the tomb, "Jesus said to her, 'Mary.'"

While we may not hear the audible calling of our names, rest assured, that the Lord does know our names, that He does call us by name and that one day there will be a rock with our name on it, known only by the Lord (Rev 2:17).  What a beautiful reminder.  It was almost as if a whisper, "Jen, you are not forgotten. I know you by name."