The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10, NKJV
Note before sharing the devotional: in the video that accompanied this particular devotional, the speaker shared a story about how he had gotten into a horrible accident as a child that left his body severely damaged. His parents’ response was to reach out to all of their fellow believer friends to pray and call upon the name of Jesus to heal him. The speaker continued, saying that within twenty minutes his body was made whole and was bouncing off the walls shortly after. As a child, he of course didn’t understand fully the significance of what had happened, but as an adult it has taught him a very important lesson about the power that lives in God’s name, and about trusting in that power.
For the first two full years that I was in intensive counseling, I also was privileged to have had a church friend who gave free craniosacral treatments. (She was in training at the time and got her degree in it, opening up her practice during that time as well.) Between those two things, along with a few other things (namely reading through the whole Bible and getting saved), I experienced a two-year stretch where I didn’t feel fear or anxiety even once, after a lifetime of suffering from it chronically. I even experienced partial, temporary healing in my hearing (I have hearing loss and wear hearing aids).
I think that because I’ve been accustomed to stress, anxiety, and brokenness in certain areas of my life, it has made it difficult for me to call on Jesus’s name (and to invite others to come alongside as well) to ask for healing and complete freedom. There is indeed power in His name, but more often than not I have not used it to heal or rectify things in my life that are amiss or array. And that leads to another area that we often have to address first: forgiving what is past and believing that, no matter what has happened, God’s way was and is best, even when His way leads us through more challenge.
At my church it is regularly preached: “God wants you blessed.” Knowing my church’s leadership, I believe that it comes from a good place and with good desires. But I do believe this type of emphasis can accidentally mislead one’s trust in the Lord by not leaving room for times when God’s sovereignty and His way is the true lesson. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” that, despite his asking God three times to remove it, the Lord’s response was “no. My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) A 20th-century example concerns a powerful woman of God, who, at age 17 dove off a cliff into the water to join her friends. However, she had misread the depth of the water and crash-landed into some jagged rocks that were much closer to the surface than she could perceive. This collision left her paralyzed from the shoulders down. As a believer in the powerful name of Jesus, she believed for complete healing and for the ability to move her arms and legs. To this day, almost 60 years later, she has still not regained said ability. She still believes God is good and is able to do anything, and she continues to be a vessel and a voice for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But she was never healed from this particular injury.
There are many other such examples. Regardless, God is still
good, and He is still on the throne. But His ways are still higher than ours
(than mine, even). I still wrestle with trials and tribulations that occur in
my life. But the lesson that I still need to learn is that yes, He can and will
deliver me from things that don’t align with His will and His plans for my
life, but that He also will allow and/or keep hard things in my life if it will
help conform me to His will and His image that would not occur otherwise.
I still think back to when I spent three years living with
the two difficult housemates that I’ve periodically referenced on this blog. I
still wrestle with understanding why circumstances arranged themselves in such
a way that it was as if I had “no choice” but to move in in the first place,
and then heard nothing from the Lord each time I asked either: “why am I still
living here?” or: “how much longer do You want me living here?” or: “when can I
move out of here?” or even: “can I please move back to where I was living
before I moved here?” And so on.
The answers have slowly been trickling in, first about six
months ago, and then another answer more recently. The answer that came first
was when my now-wife confirmed that if I hadn’t been living with her and the
other housemates, she wouldn’t have had another pair of eyes and ears to
corroborate her experiences with them, and to verify that she was in fact not
imagining things when she was trying to make sense of different experiences and
interactions with them, herself. It was powerful to hear her say that, but
after we had married and then moved out to our own place, I still found myself
wrestling with the experiences in the aftermath as well. It was as if, somehow,
what she had revealed was not enough to calm me down and give me peace.
Then, much more recently, a second answer came to me, in the
form of something a friend I caught up with recently had shared with me. For
privacy reasons, I will not share the difficulty that he went through, but in
hearing his story, it was a convicting reminder of how living with my now-wife
and the other housemates was in fact a vehicle for safeguarding my walk with
God in yet another area that was being highlighted as a spiritual “danger zone.”
This was yet another answer, also in the vein of God’s ways being higher than
mine, because as difficult as this time was, it also accomplished far more than
perhaps any other type of refinement, for both my now-wife and me.
As I write, I’m currently having what I believe to be a mild
episode of a health challenge (in the same general area as what I’ve
experienced quite a few times before). I still choose to claim Isaiah
53:5 (“…and by His stripes we are healed”) as my statement of faith
regarding God’s ability and desire to heal anything and everything in me, but
also acknowledging that He is sovereign and that His ways are higher than mine.
To close this note, what has encouraged me is this verse
from Revelation about how immediately healing will be in heaven:
In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, Revelation 22:2-3A, NKJV
The Name of the Lord
Have you ever thought about the meaning of your name? The meaning of a name is more important in some cultures than others. In Scripture, the meaning of a name can tell you a lot about a specific person or the character of that person.
Similarly, the name of the Lord is not just a common name. The Lord’s name is meant to carry the identity, character, and actions of God. That is why Scripture tells us to call upon the name of the Lord as a means of help and comfort.
God’s name tells us who He is. He is God, the Creator and Ruler of everything on the earth. He is the one who is above everything else in all the earth. That means He is more powerful and more wise than anyone else too.
God’s name also tells us about His character. We learn in Scripture that God is faithful, merciful, loving, and strong—His presence is a place of protection for those who follow Him.
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 NIV
God’s name also tells us about His actions. He rescues and saves His children. He fights for the weak and He provides for the needy.
All of these good traits are wrapped up in the name of the Lord. When we call upon His name, we are trusting and believing that God is who He says He is.
What other attributes of God’s character come to mind when you think about Him? Take a moment to thank Him for who He is and all that He has done for you.
Prayer: God, I am so grateful that You know everything I’m
going through. Your name is a strong tower. You alone are my source of
strength. I am calling on Your name. Thank You that with You, I am safe. In
Jesus’ name, Amen.
