When I lived in Georgia I had a beautiful friend named Hayley. We used to meet for coffee semi-often, and our conversations always felt too short.. even after 3 hours of straight talking.
Conversations with her were so life giving!
During one of our conversations at the Conyers Starbucks, she asked me a question that ended up shaping and changing my life.
It’s now a question I encourage everyone to ask..
She asked me who Yahweh says I am.
She told me that God told her the names that He calls her. Names other than Hayley.
And she encouraged me to ask Him what He calls me.
Before I even left the Starbucks parking lot, I asked Him.
I don’t remember getting an answer right away. But, they did start to come. 🙂
And this continual question has helped me realize who I am.
One of the first answers He gave me was “Encourager”.
Not a proper name, so I was confused at first. But, I took Him at His word and asked Him to explain. (Trust unlocks so much for us!)
Over time He revealed to me how He made me in a unique way to see people at times for who they truly are, and be able to decipher through the lies they’ve been believing. And just encourage them in truth and real hope.
I love it!
When I get to truly encourage someone, I feel so alive!
Of course we feel good when we tell someone something they like to hear. But, for me it goes deeper.
Knowing that “Encourager” is part of my true identity, there’s just this beauty in living it out that feels like “life” to me.
And I’m proud of it.
I’m happy to be myself, and it’s so fun. 🙂
He’s given me other descriptive words, and also an actual name that I didn’t even know was a real name the first time I heard it.
It’s a Hebrew name which means something that was so profound for me in the time He gave it to me.
Each time He shows me more of who I am, it’s like He gives me more access to it. (Maybe I’ll unfold more of what I mean by access in the future)
But, I can sometimes go back and see how whatever word He spoke over me has been something that has always come pretty easy for me, or what close people in my life have used to describe me, or have told me before.
But, when Yahweh says it, it’s different.
It’s revolutionary.
And it’s my true identity.
Other times, He calls me something I never would have expected and even questioned at first. But He’s worth our trust, and He always explains it to me.
And once He gives me those identity markers, it helps me know how to live my life.
How to be in situations I’m not comfortable in or or don’t know how to act.
I can remind myself what He calls me and who I am, and then I typically know what to do, no matter the situation or how I felt going in.
It’s helped me in my transition from striving to be perfect to learning how to just be me and let the things I do be an overflow of who I am with Yahweh.
It actually gives me direction in my life.
And I want that for you!
But there’s an even more CRUCIAL PART of the question.
Or rather a second question to ask:
Yahweh, who are you?
If it’s true that we are hidden in Christ (and yes, it is true), then we can only truly be found in knowing who Christ is.
Jesus only does and says what He sees and hears the Father do.
He said He came to reveal the Father.
And the Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus, and is the same Spirit that lives in us and raised Christ from the dead.
We were made in His image.
So, if we don’t know who God is, we can’t know who we are.
So ask Him!
He wants to reveal more of Himself to you.
And He will never run out of things to reveal to you!
He’s an infinite God. He never ends, so there’s never a stop to who He is and what He can teach us about Himself.
That’s why He gave us the capacity for greed. We can turn it into a bad thing by longing for more and more of anything inferior to Yahweh.
But, He made us in a way to experience and long for all of Him – So He had to make us with the capacity to always want more because He always has more of Himself to give.
So as you can see, there are multiple answers to both questions.
So, keep asking:
God, who do you say that I am? What do You call me?
And
Yahweh, who are you? What should I call you?
Ask today!
And keep asking for the rest of your life!
I doubt The Creator of Creativity (as He told me He is one day) will run out of answers for those questions.
And I believe the answers will change your life in the best way possible!
P.S. if you want to learn more from my incredible friend Hayley, follow her on Instagram and DM her to request being put on her email list.
She’s continually using her life for Jesus and the Kingdom and there’s always something to learn from her and ways you can support her ministry. 🙂
