Discover His heart: He is God Almighty, the God who is enough
Over 46 years ago I changed my name. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my name, but I felt it was time for a change. I had considered a few other names, but none of them really measured up to the one I chose. In addition to all the normal changes that come, like new identification, driver’s license, social security card, this change affected my life in a dramatic way. People no longer knew me by my old name and actually treated me differently; in fact, I thought of myself differently. Yes, the day I changed my name to Benigas was monumental in my life, but I never would have done it had I not known the one who gave me the name.
@ Genesis 17
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am El-Shaddai—God Almighty.’”(1) Even though Abram and the Lord had already met, Abram knew Him only as Jehovah, the true God, but he was about to know Him in a whole new way. El Shaddai! God Almighty who was all-sufficient, the God who was all Abram would ever need. The God who was able to provide all the descendants that Abram could ever want. Ishmael never would have been an issue had Abram first known El Shaddai – the God who is enough!
“At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, ‘This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.” (3-5) First, God shared who He was by revealing a new name for Himself, and then He revealed to Abram who Abram really was by changing his name from revered father to how He saw him – Abraham, father of many nations.
When we were introduced to the Lord as our Savior, we may not have understood completely that we were putting in for some changes – a new nature (2 Corinthians 2:17), a new name (Revelation 2:17) and a new life (John 4:14). As a new creation in Christ, we were adopted by God into this great family of Abraham’s descendants to forever bear His name. At the very least our name is Redeemed.
Throughout the Bible, we have many examples of how God changed the names of His people to how He saw them – Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Peter, Paul. What is His name for us, how does God see us and are we living up to that name? Have we changed our identification? Do others see us differently? Do we see ourselves differently?
Do we know El Shaddai, God Almighty, the One whose name we bear? In the challenges we face today, do we understand that we are in covenant with the all-sufficient God? After an encounter with El Shaddai, we have no need to panic or take matters into our own hands when problems arise because we know the God who is enough!
Moving Forward: I’m challenged today to live the way God sees me, answering to my new name and trusting the God who is enough. After all, my Father is El-Shaddai!
Tomorrow @ Joshua 21-2
Phyllis Benigas 