My nine-year-old daughter is really creative. She makes up a name for everything. She has a name for all of her stuffed animals, a name for the dog (besides his real name), and a name for her brain. It is "Thinky." Please don't read too much into it. I asked her this week, "Why do you have a name for everything?" She said," Dad, I don't have a name for everything, just the important things." This caused me to think for a moment. She has a point. In a way, we name many of the things in our life. Too many times we name little events out of fear,
Procrastination will name a goal, "Just a little farther off..." which means I will get to it tomorrow.
Fear will name an event "Scary and dreaded." which means I can't see what is really going on.
What if we flipped the script. What if we actually named scary events "Opportunity or a Good Challenge." Suddenly, that thing we have been dreading becomes less dreadful and grows into faith.
Jesus did this when he was caught in a storm with the disciples on the water. He raised his hands and renamed the storm. He called it "Peace" and commanded it to be still. Then it was. I believe there are times when we create self-fulfilling prophecies out of fear. We tell ourselves that our spouse wants to leave. Then we act as though they already are.
Or we don't put ourselves up for a promotion because we named the fear "Rejection." I wish I could tell you I have mastered this skill, but I haven't. But by God's grace, this week, I will rename a few things in my life.
Some things are going to be "Opportunities."
Some relationships are going to be "Valued."
Some struggles are going to be "Conquered."
What are you going to name in your life? I would love to hear from you. You can email me at readdison@yeshuasthief.net
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