The Lord’s delight!

My father picked my name 'Hephzibah.'  The wicked king Manasseh's mother was also called Hephzibah ( 2 Kings 21:1).  But my father told me that he called me after Isaiah 62:4, "You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah."  When I was young, my name did not bother me at all.  But as life got tough and the path became weary, I started thinking that my father had given me a name with a negative connotation, 'I will not be forsaken.'  Somehow my name sounded negative to me!  One day as I was reading this portion in my quiet time, with my heart filled with anguish and my eyes with tears, the Lord opened my eyes to the words in the second half of verse 4, "But you shall be called Hephzibah…. for the Lord delights in you".  As I read the words through my tears, I felt the burden lift off, and my tears dried up!  I was so happy to know that the Lord had given me a new name which meant He delighted in me!

I had to grow up and mature in my faith to comprehend that Jesus loves me no matter what my name is!  The Lord is mindful of me and has engraved me in the palm of His hands irrespective of what I am called.  Regardless of what I am known as the Lord gives me a new name and a new future!  The blood of Jesus covers my past, my sin, and my shame, and I am a new creation!  Since the Lord is the author of this transformation, He is also the author of the new name.  The Lord 'exchanges' our old names for new names and a new future!  The people of Israel knew what it was like to feel forsaken and desolate.  But God assured them of a day when they would know that God delights in them.  'Hephzibah' means "My delight is in her."  What a joy to know that the Lord 'delights' in me! 

My friend, no matter what your name is,  be secure knowing that the Lord loves you and delights in you.  Jesus has demonstrated His love for us by going to the Cross.  No wonder John says in 1 John 3:1, "what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons/daughters of God…."

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