Your name matters.

When Janelle went into the coffee shop and ordered, she found herself waiting longer than she expected for her latte.  She grew frustrated as people after her were called; meanwhile, one guy never bothered to grab his coffee.  When she finally went to complain, she was surprised to learn that she was that guy.

There on the counter was her order, with the name “John L.” scrawled on it.

There are pages online dedicated to hilarious, sometimes hurtful, misspellings of names on coffee orders.  It’s a small thing, but having your name misrepresented can sting, even if you know the barista is a stranger rushing through orders.

Deep down our names matter to us, and we can feel a certain way when someone mispronounces it, uses an entirely wrong name, or doesn’t bother to even learn it.  There is a desire to be fully known that can be draining when unmet; the truth is it has not nor will it ever go unmet, as that desire exists because we were designed to be fully known.

God knows you by name; He always has and always will.

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (John 10:3)

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.” (Psalm 91:14)

And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33:17)

The God who invited man to name His creation knows the name of each person; we even see moments where He gave specific names to children, because He knew how He planned to work through each one.  When you feel most unknown, you are actually deeply known by the God who created and named you.

We are not simply talking about our given birth name; His knowledge of us goes far deeper.  How God knows us is not defined by a birth certificate or what we’ve done, but by who He has created us to be; this is why so many of the names He gave were prophetic in nature.  This is also why He often gave individuals new names:

• Abram, “exalted father”, became Abraham, “father of many”, because God gave him the impossible call to be a father of nations in his old age
• Simon, “to hear or listen”, became Peter, “stone”, because God took him from being a disciple to shepherding the first Church
• Saul, “prayed for”, became Paul, “humble, least”, because God invited him from traditional spiritual authority to giving his life for the sake of the Gospel

Because God knows our true purpose, He knows our true name, and intends to personally share it with us:

I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17b)

Who you are today is but a glimpse of who He is forming you to be, and there will come a day when you understand yourself as He does.  This is good news for those of us who feel little about our name, or wish we were someone else; after all, you were “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

If this wasn’t enough, it gets better.  God’s gift for us is not simply that we as individuals would know our value and purpose, but that we would come to know our place within the full Body and within Him.  We were never designed for isolation, but beautiful eternal community:

The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. (Revelation 3:12)

You are not just fully known, you are a part of something greater, by which you will come to be known.  Who you are is not defined by your limited nature, but God’s intricate design of His creation.  Your flaws, mistakes, and weaknesses cannot change that, nor can your efforts earn it; you are qualified because you were lovingly created before you had your first thought.

Be encouraged!  No matter how forgotten, neglected, or rejected you may feel, the God who made you fully knows and loves you; He calls you by name today even when our name feels tarnished, because “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  For the whole of our life He sees on us an intentional name that captures the intricate design crafted into us, a value and purpose beyond our capacity, and as we approach eternity we will begin to understand more and more who we truly are.

Until then, take peace that you are known, and celebrate His gift to you by extending it to others; seek to “love others” by learning their name, seeing the intentional design within them, and loving them now where they are.