What God Calls You

Just the other night I had a dream that a friend had a baby boy. In my dream, the baby was seven months old and still didn’t have a name.

“Well, what do you call him?” I asked.

“Wolfgang.”

“Well, what you call a person is what his name is,” I told her.

I woke up after that knowing that dream was a message to my heart. Over the years I’ve called myself many names: sinner, murderer, unfaithful, undisciplined. The thing is, while I was calling myself those names, God was calling me other names. It just took me shutting my mouth and listening!

And what were God’s names for me? Daughter, faithful child, and dedicated servant. He saw me in ways I didn’t see myself. He saw who I was in Him and through Him. He saw who I could become.

Seeing myself differently started in 1997 when I attended a Bible study for women who’ve had an abortion. Through a study of the book Forgiven and Set Free, I realized that no matter what I’d done in the past, God saw me as forgiven. He saw me as a beautiful child. He had good plans for me—plans to give me a hope and a future. He gave me a new name: Forgiven.

In my own personal Bible study time, God showed me the flawed people He used for His glory. For example, King David was a nobody before God made him a somebody. And even when David was a somebody, he committed sins that would make anybody cringe: adultery and murder, just to name two. Yet God called David “the apple of His eye” (Psalm 17:8) and “a man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). Why? Because King David made himself available to God—to fight God’s enemies and lead God’s people, and to worship God no matter what anyone else thought.

Even at the end of his life, David gave God glory for every good thing that had happened to him. In 2 Samuel 23:5 (NLT), we read, “Is it not my family God has chosen? Yes, he has made an everlasting covenant with me. His agreement is arranged and guaranteed in every detail. He will ensure my safety and success.”

I love that. We need to see our lives as God sees them: arranged and guaranteed in every detail. That means two more names we can add to our list: Planned and Promised.

It took a while for David to accept the name God gave him: Chosen. Do you have a hard time accepting the names that God calls you, too?

Today think about the names you’ve called yourself. Now ask God to place the names He calls you upon your heart. Listen to Him. Knowing your names gives you a hint of the good plans God has for your life. And it gives you faith to follow.