Does God Call You Goober?

When my youngest daughter was about to enter kindergarten, the school began doing pre-kindergarten screenings to see what each child knew prior to beginning school. Afterward, I was curious what the test was like and so that night at dinner I asked Hayley about it. She told me it was easy, just numbers, colors and cutting with scissors. I asked her if there was anything she didn’t know on the test. She thought awhile and then said well, she didn’t know her middle name. I thought I would give her a hint as to what her middle name was, so I reminded her that her Dad called her by her middle name all the time. This was true. When he was upset with her, he would call her by her entire name. She thought a while about this information, then she looked like a light bulb went on and she said, “Oh! Goober???” Don’t worry; we didn’t name her Hayley Goober Watts….


Names are important to us though, aren’t they? They help us know who we are and define our identity. In Isaiah 42:1, it says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” The first time I heard this verse, it made me cry. It still does. God knows each of us so well he calls us by name. That verse tells us what a personal intimate relationship, God wants with each of us. It tells us that we belong in God’s family; we have a place that we cannot lose or abandon. It tells us that when we feel alone, left out or at odds with the human race, God still cares for us and holds us close. Sometimes, God not only knows our name, but he knows who we really are better than we know ourselves. Have you even been challenged to do something that you really didn’t believe you were capable of doing, but somehow you pulled it off? Have you ever been in the midst of a difficult situation that seemed impossible to cope with, and then somehow things worked out? Read my I Prefer Life post if you want a concrete example of this. Of course God knows us so well because he made us. I suppose sometimes, He might even call us Goober…

Is God Calling You By a New Name?

From the back seat of the car, I heard our five year old friend, McKenzie, calling out repeatedly, "Helen! Helen!" We were on the way to the Fernbank museum to see the frog exhibit and I was riding in the front seat with my oldest daughter who was driving. Since no one in the car was named Helen, I paid her little attention and assumed it must be part of a conversation she was involved in with my younger daughter who was in the back seat with her. When she simply became louder and more insistent, I finally turned and asked her , "Who are you talking to?" Imagine my surprise when she said, "I'm calling you!" Helen? What? After some detective work, we discovered that she had heard other people calling me "Hey, Lynne" and concluded my name must be Helen.

I wonder if God ever calls us by a different name? I wonder if we are so stuck in our routine of comfortable worship and predictable service that we mistakenly assume a call for us is for someone else? Something like that happened to Samuel when he was a boy ministering under the priest Eli. God called Samuel during the night and he assumed it must be Eli calling him. Following up on that incorrect assumption, he learns to recognize God's call and God's plan for his life. I Samuel 3:1-8

Could God be calling you in a new way with a new name? Maybe he is calling you by the name of teacher or comforter when you have been accustomed to a different role. Maybe He is calling you leader or peacemaker. To hear that call though, you will need to step outside the familiar and listen with new ears. Otherwise, you just might miss that call altogether. "Helen, Helen, I'm calling YOU!"