Forward Friday: Knowing Your Name
Hi, lovely readers! Thanks for all your encouragement and support over the past couple of weeks as I’ve wrestled with fear and finding my voice.
Now, here’s a little exercise to try to discover the new name God has given you.
1) Sit in a comfortable position in a quiet place.
2) Light a candle (or use a painting or some other focal point to help draw your attention away from distractions).
3) Read Genesis 32:22-32 aloud, slowly.
4) In silence, ask God to reveal to you who you have been created to be. Ask God to bless you as Jacob once did. Expect an answer.
5) Wait. Listen.
6) If you find yourself too easily distracted, repeat #3-5 once or twice more.
7) Come back and share your experience in the comment box below.
Posted on May 11, 2012, in Forward Friday, Identity, Spirituality. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
Holistic Body Theology 
That’s a good question, Evan. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I definitely think God can emphasize different things in different seasons. Now that I’m thinking about it, I also think every season is a partial revelation of the new person we are becoming, and in the end, we will discover our true name, the one we were meant to have all along, written on the white stone (Rev 2:17) and given to us when we arrive, victorious. I think both possibilities are represented in scripture. Saul/Paul, for example, experienced a complete change of heart, and the name just acknowledged what had already happened. With Jacob/Israel here, the name foreshadows the person he will become and is the catalyst for that change to begin. So then, we can receive both the name that “names” our experience in the moment (which can be variable depending on our season) as well as the name that reveals the person we are growing into (which has an aspect of finality, character arc). Just my initial thoughts. What do you think?
That’s exactly what I was thinking too – thank you for checking back in on that!
wow – love it – Laura, do you believe in one new only, or can it change from season to season?