Our heavenly Father is the God of life, the One who can resurrect what is dead. He is also the one who changes destinies. As children of God, we no longer have to bear the scars of the past, we can look to the future with hope.
Nowadays we do not really identify with the meaning of our names. Most of the time, our parents chose our name because it sounded nice with our last name, or because they wanted to honor one of our ancestors. But in the Old Testament, names were bearers of the person’s identity. This is why God took care to change the name of Abram (high father) to Abraham (father of multitudes) after promising him a lot of descendants (Genesis 17:5). His wife also had her name changed from Sarai (quarrelsome) to Sara (Princess) (Genesis 17:15). In the New Testament, Jesus changed the name of Simon (who hears) to that of Cephas (which means stone) (John 1:42). He went from the guy who gets told what to do to the one that is so strong in his convictions that he can hold the whole church!
An interesting note here: we did some research to find out the meaning of names. In the Bible, the meaning of the new name is written, but not the meaning of the old name. As if the past did not matter!
Nowadays, we rarely base our identity on our first name or last name. But we all give ourselves different titles. “I am a teacher,” “I am a mother,” “I am an epileptic,” and so on. These are names or titles that we have acquired or that unfortunate situations have stuck to us. When we are children of God, we can rely on our new nature to change everything that keeps us defeated. God can change your name from “divorced” to “single.” Whoever keeps the name of “divorced” remains attached to their past failure. But if you have forgiven your former partner, if you have been forgiven by God and have divorced the proper way in the eyes of God, you can start anew. You no longer have to see yourself as a divorced person, but as a single who is ready to walk in the ways of God. Obviously, when you meet a special person, you will have to talk about your past relationships, and you will have to be completely transparent. However, do not let the labels of the past define you in your day to day life and paralyze your future!
What name have you given yourself? Or what name have you been given? “Easy Girl”, “Macho”, “Rebel”, “Snob”, “Poor”, “Immigrant”, etc. Why do you accept this label? What does God say about you? “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 NASB). “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB). “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12 NASB).
God wants to resurrect you. He did not promise that your life would be easy and trouble-free, but He does not want you to be miserable either! He wants to heal your past and give you a new heart. Looking to our future with hope means seeing ourselves getting all that is best. Wishing does not lead us anywhere, but the Spirit of God fills us with hope so that we can already see in our thoughts our future marriage which is healthy and harmonious. With this positive image in mind, we can then begin to act by faith, because we know where we are going. We are no longer slaves to our past or our mistakes. We know our new identity in Christ, we can imagine our future with hope, and we move toward the fulfillment of God’s promises to us with faith. Is it time for you to change your name and take the one God has given you?