A couple months back, I found myself sitting in church service listening to a message entitled, “God Given Opportunities.” It was an unusual Sunday morning for me because my husband wasn’t with me and neither was my son. It was just me. Sitting there listening to this sermon which should have been titled, “Who is God calling you?” It wasn’t two minutes into the sermon and the pastor said “You have a God given name. Who is God calling you?” In that moment, I heard God speak to my heart and say, ” I am calling you beautiful.” It was so clear that I grabbed my journal out of my purse and wrote it down immediately. The pastor continued with his message. By the time we got to the end, he would wrap it all up by saying, “God told someone in here today who they are. God said, ‘I am calling you beautiful.’ And I want you to come up here and claim your God given name.” My heart was about to beat out of my chest. The exact words I wrote down 30 minutes before were now echoing through the sanctuary. “I am calling you beautiful.” I glanced at my journal, just to double check myself and sure enough, those words were shining back at me. I knew to not go up there would be a direct act of disobedience to God. With heart racing and hands shaking, I stood and made my way to the front, claiming my God-given name in front of God and 200 plus people.
So I ask you, what is your God given name? Who is God calling you? Not who the world says you are. And not even who you say you are. But who does God say you are? If you do not know who God says you are, take some time now in prayer and ask God to reveal it to you. And trust that God will tell you exactly who you are. If you have no idea where to begin, let me help you. From Matthew 12:18, the Amplified version, “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will proclaim justice to the nations.” Yes this is about Jesus. But Jesus came to show us who we are in HIM and in God. This message is for us, as well as Jesus. You are God’s BELOVED. Claim it for yourself today.
Merriam-Webster’s definition of ‘beloved’ is this, dearly loved : dear to the heart. How does it make you feel to think that you are God’s beloved, that you are dearly loved by God and dear to God’s heart? It makes me feel pretty good. Check out this pin entitled, You are Who God Says You Are, which lists 17 scriptures of God saying who you are. And to send it all home, watch this YouTube below and soak up exactly who God says you are.
“I am a child of God, Yes I am.” You are God’s beloved and I am God’s beloved. Let us never forget who we are.
4 thoughts on “Who is God calling you?”
When I read this I could feel the power in that service. It occurred to me that you are not only beautiful, but you are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” The pin translation you gave from Psalm 139 says, “unique.” You are all of that and more, precious friend.
Thank you Shan. I hope that all of us know that we are each “fearfully and wonderfully made”. Handmade by the Creator Himself. -M
Wow! I really enjoy hearing stories like this. I have been blessed from this story. I love that if we listen, God will speak to our hearts or speak to us through others. In this story, not only were you able to hear God, but God also spoke to the pastor and now I am a part of the story because God spoke to me. I typically do not comment on many things but I felt a strong urge to write a few words.
The title “Who is God calling you?” is very fitting for this blog post however, the pastor’s sermon title “God Given Opportunities” meant something to me and tugged at my heart as well.
If the pastor did not take the God given opportunity have faith that you would come forward and you didn’t take the God given opportunity to go forward to claim your name to acknowledge what he told you, then there would be no story… just a missed God Given Opportunity.
God has a name for me as well. Not sure what it is but I have faith that he is going to let me know.
Thanks for sharing this amazing story!
Cat – thank you for commenting. I had chills reading your response. Isn’t it beautiful that we can a part of the story. We all are a part of God’s story. I never saw the connection in the sermon title. Thank you for pointing it out. Man – God is so good. Have faith that God will indeed reveal to your heart your God Given name. I’m hearing Warrior, humble Warrior, gentle warrior. You can pray into that. God will show you exactly who you are to God and no matter what it is, you are loved! -M