Have you ever been lost? Or felt like you were lost?

We were at the playground today and as Olivia was playing I moved from where I was to another spot in the play area to sit.

I thought Olivia had seen, but she went to where I had been sitting to ask me a question, and she realized I wasn’t there.

“Oh no” she said. She didn’t freak out as she said it, but she had never been lost before. I wondered if there was a part of her that felt panic at that moment.

It was only a handful of seconds before she caught my eye, and a big smile returned to her face.

“Mommy” she said.

“I am right here Olivia.” I had known where she was the entire time, but she didn’t know that. And I will probably always remember the smile she had when she realized that she was “found”.

I am not really sure she would know what to do if she was actually lost and actually couldn’t find me. That thought kept going through my head. Have we ever talked about this?

I don’t really do well when I get “lost” either. And by lost, I mean when I lose my gaze on Christ. when I am like a lost sheep, wandering around without my shepherd.

Who Calls You By Name?

Let us take a look at a little snippet of the life of Moses. He had fled Egypt to live in Midian. He built a life there. A good life, marrying a priest’s daughter, and tending the flock of her father. He was a shepherd.

At this time God’s people were in slavery in Egypt and had cried out to God.

God heard their cry. Remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked upon them and was concerned for them.

Now it seems like Moses had a decent life there. Life seemed like it was pretty good. But one day he is tending flock in the wilderness, on the mountain of God (another name for Mount Sinai), and notices this burning bush that isn’t burning up by the flames.

So he goes over to this bush that had caught his attention and God begins to speak to him, and gives him a mission. It was a large task. He was to go and lead God’s people out of Egypt, out of captivity.

“Who am I?” he asked God.

It is funny now that I look at it. Because when God called out to Moses from the burning bush, He called Moses by name. Twice actually, which is a big deal in scripture.

God knew exactly who Moses was. He knew why he had fled Egypt.

God knew his true identity. He was the son of a Levite, which stemmed back to Jacob.

Moses was an Israelite. He was one of God’s chosen.

He knew his mother had hid him, when he was a baby when all Hebrew boys were ordered to be killed. And that when she could no longer hide him, she put him in a basket in the Nile river, I can only imagine in hopes of his survival.

Moses was known, and was sought after by God.

He created you. And He calls you by name.

We can’t see beyond today. But we can know the God who does, the One who calls us by name. He responds to us when we question, and feel alone, with the same thing He said to Moses. “I will be with you.”

When considering God’s voice, I want to share something I noticed. I am quick to listen to the voice of the enemy. The voice that says I am not enough, I will fail, that His word isn’t enough. And the voice that says I should just quit. And I will say to God “Who am I?”

Ready for this truth? It is so good. Like so good.

The enemy doesn’t call you by name. He knows your name. But he doesn’t call you by name. Ultimately he is a stranger to us.

God says He is with you. It is a promise.

 John 10: 3-5 (paraphrased) says “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. He goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Your Father knows your name. He is a good shepherd, and would leave the flock of 99 to find the lost one. Then He will put you on His shoulders joyfully, and invite others to rejoice with Him. (Luke 15: 4-6)

‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ Luke 15: 6

God called Moses by name, and Abraham, and Jacob, and Peter, and Martha, and Mary.

But God calls you by name too.

He will never lead you to question your identity in Christ, and who you are to Him. And you are not lost, when He calls you found. You are chosen, and loved. Cared for. Adopted, and accepted.

Who am I? This is who you are.

You are His daughter.

He knows His plan and His purpose for you as only a good Father would. And His plan for your life is good, and it will glorify Him.

He cares for you like a shepherd. And He holds you in his arms and carries you close to his heart; as a mother does with her young. (Isaiah 40:11)

When the question “who am I?” runs through your head, I pray you rest in that beautiful truth.

The video below paints a beautiful picture of how Jesus loves us.

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