A quick google search tells me that 9 out of 10 of us experience ‘earworms’! They are our imaginations inbuilt mp3 player, or in my terms – it’s that annoying constant replay of a seemingly random song that I hum, sing or whistle for hours on end every day!
I have two earworms which rear their heads daily. ‘If I only had a brain’1 as sung by the scarecrow in my childhood favourite film, the Wizard of Oz. This one isn’t just annoying because of it’s nature as an earworm, I find it offensive too! I take the words of the song quite personally, wondering if my brain (ironically) is giving me a direct message about my intelligence, or lack of.
My other resident earworm is a song from my childhood which we sang in school assemblies, in church and it is the only song I remember how to play on the piano!
Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name,
You are mine.
I had no idea that the words of the song came from Isaiah, a book in the Bible that talks about God’s chosen people who rebel from Him time and time again whilst God remains faithful, sticking to his great rescue plan.
But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.2
All through my childhood I was actively involved in the Roman Catholic church and from the outside looking in, I was what people would consider a good Christian. But I was always very aware, although I wouldn’t have described it this way, that I was a rebel. I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t ‘good’. I knew that this was a problem, but I had no idea what to do about it. I also had no idea that God wanted to and could rescue me from my rebellion, as he says in Isaiah, that he could redeem me. Although I had spent my whole childhood in the church, I didn’t know this good news, and that was because I didn’t know Jesus.
That all changed at the age of 19, one evening after reading some Psalms in the Bible after a year or so of searching to know more about Jesus. That was the day that God called me to be his, to know him as my heavenly father. That day was when I went from simply knowing about God to actually knowing God through Jesus.
So that’s why this blog is entitled ‘Called by Name’ – I want it to be an ongoing testimony of God’s saving work in my life – because I couldn’t write about anything that is more important than this fundamental reality. I am so thankful that the words of that song are with me every day to remind me that I have nothing to fear because God has paid the price so that he can call me to be his much loved child.
I am thankful for this earworm, unlike the other from the scarecrow. I am thankful for the reminder that my salvation was and continues to be all God’s doing. I bring nothing to the table to be called by name by God and know that I am his.
It is good to remember each day that I can have as much knowledge about God and be as articulate as I like when explaining my faith, but unless my heart is delighted to be known by God and each moment of each day is shaped by this truth, then my relationship with God is in danger of becoming dry.
It is good to be reminded, as a woman with a ‘can do’ attitude who makes things happen no matter how many chips are down, that my greatest need has been met and could only be met by God – to be known and to know HIM. HE has called me to an understanding of what Jesus did on the cross, taking the punishment for my rebellion and rising to life so that I might have a relationship with HIM. If it were by my effort, then I would have done it just by trying hard my whole childhood!
It also is good to know that even in that period when I did not know God as my saviour whilst growing up, that God was still working in my heart. He was building a knowledge about him, even though lots of it was erroneous knowledge. It would be easy to be resentful and judgemental at the missed opportunity of many to present Jesus clearly all those years when I was so close. But God knew what he was doing. I need to remember this each and every day, particularly in those seasons when I don’t know what is going on or why. It is helpful to be able to look back with the knowledge that God does know what is going on, and why, and because he loves me I can trust him. Because if I can look back and see how I could trust Him with my salvation, I can trust him with anything.
How ironic it is, that perhaps my two earworms are linked. One speaking of the need for knowledge ‘oh the things I could do with a brain’, and the other reminding me of the greater need for a heart that loves God and delights in being redeemed and known by him.
- https://youtu.be/nauLgZISozs?si=P-MZzb-_QTaeetfU ↩︎
- Isaiah 43 v1 ↩︎
Called by Name 