Name Change

It's amazing how long-buried hurts can sometimes resurface without warning. It happened to me last night. I was unexpectedly confronted with some memories of wounds that happened years ago. Thought the wounds weren't nearly as painful as when they first occurred, they hurt nonetheless.

It was then that Satan began whispering names to me, hurling insults in my face.

Rejected.
Unwanted.
Unloved.
Outcast.
Alone.

Painful names. Punishing names. Awful names.

Mercifully, and almost immediately, the lyrics to a song that we sing from time to time at church came into my mind:

I will change your name 
You shall no longer be called 
Wounded, outcast 
Lonely or afraid 

I will change your name 
Your new name shall be 
Confidence, joyfulness 
Overcoming one 
Faithfulness, friend of God 
One who seeks my face. 
"I Will Change Your Name" (D.J. Butler)

How gracious God was to remind me right away that I no longer answer to the names that Satan calls me. God has changed my name forever. No matter how rejected or unloved I may feel, that is not my identity. And that is something to be most thankful for.