LOVE has called your name
Love has called my name.
Sometimes we can feel so disconnected, can’t we? Almost as though despite the fact we could connect with people from across the globe in a matter of minutes, there’s still that sense of isolation somehow.
I know it’s not just me who faces this.
The thing is, dwelling there, identifying yourself there, only knowing THERE, is a sure-fire way to make sure you don’t grab hold of the freedom which is already yours.
In Luke 13:10-17, we encounter the woman with the ‘disabling spirit’. Living this way for 18 years, I don’t doubt that she’d often felt alone and isolated. Surrounded by people perhaps, but not truly understood, and maybe not even truly seen.
But God.
Those two words again. Two words which change everything.
When Jesus saw this woman, He didn’t count the cost of stopping to help her, He didn’t consider His options and work out whether He’d get a better win somewhere else. He called her.
Love called her name.
Love has called my name too. And yours. Perhaps sometimes it feels as though you’re being called OUT though, right? As though you’re suddenly exposed to something we just thought was yours to carry.
When Jesus sees the burdens we’re wrongly carrying, He calls us. Will we respond? Or choose to identify with the pain which has marked us for so long instead? Physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain – He calls our name. Love has called our name.
So, the woman is freed, her chains are gone! She’s got a whole new identity – at least to herself and to others. But the truth of the matter is that Jesus never saw her any differently in the first place.
Jesus saw a Daughter.
That’s what He sees when He looks at you, too. Not the girl with anxiety, not the woman who keeps getting sick, not the mother with 5 kids who barely gets enough sleep to function, not the high-profile city-girl who finds it hard to prise herself away from her desk, and not the girl boss who’s running her own empire from her kitchen table desperately seeking this work/life balance people seem to talk about.
Jesus sees His daughters. Daughters, who are so often falsely identifying ourselves as the ones with ‘those issues’, or ‘that problem’ as though His arm is too short to save. It’s not, and His arms are everlasting too, so there’s comfort there as well as freedom from identifying ourselves with the shackles used to bind us.
Let’s remember that the enemy prowls. He’s stealth and silent on his feet – dropping a seed of doubt here, a dose of darkness there. And at first, maybe it’s subtle. At first, maybe you just shrug it off as a bad day.
But the one bad day rolls into another and before you know it, you’ve been stuck with the same issue for 18 years, not knowing that love has already called your name.
Stand on God’s promises again. On hope again. On His love again.
Our story shows us that actually there is no ‘right time’ for this. There is no ‘proper moment’ to experience His love and freedom fully. We don’t have to colour inside the lines. Jesus certainly didn’t, much to the religious leader’s dismay.
Jesus was relentless for this woman’s freedom, for her healing, for her identity as daughter to come before anything else which she or anyone else saw. He’s just as relentless about that for you too.
Love has called your name.
As Christian women, we can so often look to the infamous ‘Proverbs 31 Woman’ as the benchmark for our life, work, family and beyond. I’ve personally often described myself as having kind of love/hate relationship with her…
Although the description we read isn’t of an actual woman (it’s actually an illustration a mother uses to describe the attributes of a good woman to her son, whilst teaching him the Hebrew alphabet!) the fact that this woman cares for her family, runs a thriving business and keeps the household going simultaneously can sometimes be a tall order for us mere mortals. (Don’t tell me it’s just me…)
Love has called our names. We’re daughters first, before we’re ‘doers’, right? But that doesn’t negate the responsibility we have to do.
And so what does it mean to live out Proverbs 31 in present-day?
That’s exactly what I explore in my new 4-part study.
My brand new study ‘Present-Day Proverbs 31 – Worth & Work For Today’s Christian Woman’ is here.
If you’re interested in thinking through what it means to live out the attributes of the Proverbs 31 Woman in present-day, this is not a study to be missed.
To learn more head over to the Living Word League store by clicking below.
If you want to go further, you have to dig deeper.
HEY! I’m Naomi, Business Coach for High-Level Female Entrepreneurs & Founder of Living Word League.
I coach, write, teach and run programs which infuse practical strategies with Biblical principles (which I personally think is the best rule of thumb for success.) I moved from a 7-year High School teaching career, to building and scaling my business after starting out as a hobby-status blogger in 2011. Within months, I was able to go totally full time and haven't looked back. My success, as someone who previously would have never seen myself as an entrepreneur means that I'm now beyond passionate about business being an expression of Kingdom-building here on earth. Hobby status and inconsistent feast to famine months aren't cutting it for you anymore right? You're meant for a business which has faith as your foundation AND soars with success. That's where I come in.
Click HERE to learn more about working with me.