The Power of Your Name
Red-Winged Blackbird
Many of the birds we find in our backyards are named for what they look like. This is great for the beginning birder because it makes it easy to identify them. The goldfinch is gold. The cardinal is cardinal-red. The bluebird is blue. The black-capped chickadee has a black cap. And the red-winged blackbird looks just like its name. It has red marks on its wings, almost like epaulets, on the top of its black shoulders.
Red-winged blackbirds usually breed around cattail marshes so you can find them there or in nearby fields. They have a distinctive kon-ka-reeeee sounding call that they use when they are displaying for a mate. This display consists of spreading its wings and tail while flaring its bright-red epaulets. They look almost like body builders flexing their muscles when they fluff up their red shoulders for the ladies. Spring is the best time to look for this display of the aptly named red-winged blackbird.
Naming things is important. When I was scuba diving, I wanted to know the names of the fish I was seeing. It was exciting to be deep underwater and realize that the clownfish were the ones I found so charming and entertaining. The moorish idols were the shy but elegant ones hiding behind rocks. And the parrotfish were the rainbow-hued ones that made the loud scraping sound as they chewed on the coral. Knowing their names also enabled me to identify the deadly and dangerous ones to stay away from, such as the poisonous lionfish and stonefish. It gave me a feeling of confidence and mastery over my surroundings to know what I was looking at. The same thing happened when I became an obsessed gardener.
It didn't do any good to ask at the local nursery, "Do you have any of those pink spike-like plants?" This could get me all sorts of answers (Gladiola? Liatris? Gaura? Foxglove? Snapdragons?) but not the one I wanted: obedient plant. Physostegia virginiana. Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug."
A lot of power and reference is associated with names. For years, Scandinavians named their children "John's son" or "Erick's son," hence Johnson and Erickson. That method of naming told the child's parentage. It indicated what family they belonged to. For Native Americans picking the right name for their children was a solemn and important ceremony. Many tribes waited until the children could walk and their personality became evident. They named their children according to the character and physical traits they possessed. Sometimes our families do this to us informally, and it can take a lifetime to shed the names and labels they give us.
I was always daydreaming as a kid and quite forgetful. I would be told to go get something for my mother, and then I'd get distracted by a book or some project in my room. She'd come looking for me later wondering what happened to me. Today, people who are easily distracted or whose thoughts are often elsewhere get named Space Cadet and Flake. In my family, I was Out-to-lunch.
It was a great discovery when I moved to Australia and found that people didn't have preconceived notions of who I was. I learned to think about myself in new ways. My friends Down Under gave me new names and labels such as creative, outgoing, and friendly.
Today I heard someone on the radio admit that she was a fat child and kids used to sing "Piggy Sue" to her. Forty years later she is an accomplished therapist, but the memory was still fresh. Names can carry a great deal of emotional weight and power.
When I worked in advertising, my colleagues would be all bent out of shape if they didn't get a certain title after their name. In ad agencies, titles were many, varied, and handed out like candy. (My motto was always, "Don't praise me--raise me!") I see this too in Tom's field of computers and software. Often someone working for him is salivating for a coveted title or position. We associate power and prestige with certain names like president, vice-president, chief operating officer, and senior officer.
The book of Proverbs says that a good name is more desirable than great riches. And Solomon said that a good name is better than fine perfume. Names are important to God as well. Especially yours.
Names are important to God. Especially yours.
Hagar, the slave, the pawn of Abraham and Sarah's ill-considered plan to bring about a child, flees Sarah's wrath and ends up in the desert. She's alone as she cries in defeat and God comes to her aid. Hagar says to God, "You are the God who sees me" (Genesis 16:13). This is one of my favorite moments in the Bible. No matter how small and insignificant we may feel at times, God sees us. No matter how badly we've blown it or how badly others have treated us, He cares. And He knows us by name. So many times, names are recorded in the Bible of insignificant people who God doesn't see as insignificant. He calls them by name and gives them dignity and respect. Just a cursory glance through the books of Numbers or Chronicles reveals long lists of names and tribes, each one known to God.
“The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were”
I like the way God gives us names about who we are becoming--our positive possibilities--not based on what we've done. The apostle Paul said that God is "The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were" (Romans 4:17). I like the way God changes the names of people in the Bible too. To the first patriarch He said, "No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations" (Genesis 17:5).
I also like the account of Jacob wrestling with the man in the book of Genesis. All his life, Jacob (whose name means deceiver or usurper) had tried to get things done his own way. The night he wrestles with the man, the man asks him his name. I don't think this was for the man's benefit so much as for Jacob's. God seems to be asking, Who are you really, Jacob? He knows that Jacob has struggled his whole life with his identity. God wants Jacob to say his name aloud. Then God tells him, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome" (Genesis 32:28). Jacob goes from being named the usurper to wearing the name of overcomer.
I'm so glad we don't have to wear names based on our behavior. The red-winged blackbird could be called the polygamous bird, because he mates with more than one female each season and helps raise several broods. We have names for that in human behavior, names like cad, womanizer, and adulterer.
A brief look at ourselves could reveal some interesting names and titles that we wouldn't want to wear publicly. She-who-lies-about-how-much-she-spent-shopping or She-who-secretly-envies-other-women's-homes and He-who-desires-other-men's-wives are just some of the scary labels we could be named. (I think I'd prefer Running Deer or Babbling Brook.) Thankfully, God doesn't see us this way.
Not only is our name important to God, He wants us to know the importance of His name.
The third commandment states, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name" (Exodus 20:7). Or another way to put this is, "Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." God takes the use of His name seriously. "I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols" (Isaiah 42:8). The Bible lists many names of God. Here are just a few of them:
Jehovah/ The self-existing one/ Genesis 2:4
El Shaddai/ The God of nourishment/ Genesis 28:3
Jehovah-Roi/ The God who sees/ Genesis 16:13
Jehovah-Rapha/ The Lord our healer/ Exodus 15:26
Immanuel/ God with us/ Isaiah 7:14
These names of God are important because they reveal God's character and heart toward us. Time and time again, the Bible gives examples of people running to safety and accomplishing miracles in the name of the Lord. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe" (Proverbs 18:10). "Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 124:8). There is healing in the name of the Lord; "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:14). And finally, there is power and authority in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Peter and John encountered the lame man who was begging for money outside the temple Peter said to him, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk" (Acts 3:6). And the man walked away, healed.
One of the most riveting moments I've experienced was when a woman in our church talked about a trip she took to Africa years ago. Her faith was about as strong as you would expect of a young person who hadn't been through any trials or difficult times to test it. While visiting a village one day, she and her group were told that there was a woman who was extremely ill, fading fast. Could their group pray for this sick person? Well, of course, they thought (without much faith). They shuffled into her hut, laid hands on her, and prayed. The woman jumped up and exclaimed that she was healed. "We were shocked," Christy admitted. Then, after hearing about the woman who was healed, others in the village came and lined up for prayer. The group, again without much faith, shrugged their shoulders and agreed to pray for them all. Christy said, "To this day I almost don't believe what I saw. We prayed for people in the name of Jesus Christ and they were healed. The blind saw and the lame walked." She readily admits that she and her group didn't have much faith, but they did have the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus.
Paul explains why the name of Jesus has this power:
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ”
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)
Names carry great meaning. God never forgets a face or a name, including yours. He says that He has our names inscribed on the palms of his hands (Isaiah 49:16). And in heaven, He will give us a new name as He did Jacob. I'm glad that mine won't be based on how I look, like the red-winged blackbird (She-who-can't-say-no-to-dessert), or based on my behavior (She-who-criticizes-too-much). And because my sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus, I'm confident that one of my new nicknames will be victorious one. Yours can be too.
This post, and podcast is from my book, Wings of Mercy (the Red-Winged Blackbird chapter). You can find it on Amazon.
