Abram. A liar to a king. A doubter of God. The impatient end of a covenant that promised he would be the father of many nations. Then, at 99, a name change. After rushing to father a child from a servant girl, Abram met with God. God added a syllable, an important one. It is a syllable that, one year later, would come to fruition in he and Sarah’s firstborn, Isaac. Were it not for the rush with Hagar to produce Ishmael, the laughter that followed, or the knife that followed thereafter on Mount Moriah, the name change would not have been necessary nor as impactful for the nation of Israel. 

Fast forward to Abraham’s grandchildren. Jacob, the deceiver. Taught by his mother to lie. A momma’s boy making a play for the inheritance. A birthright-stealing swindler. A manipulator. Dysfunction at its ripest. Fast forward to his adult life where he is running for his own life. He is making decisions out of fear. He’s wrestling. Then he has a new fight. Wrestling till dawn.Wrestling with God. A hollow hip as a reminder. Then his name is changed to Israel-God’s chosen, his son then elevated to the right hand of an earthly leader to feed the hungry and forgive the enemy. Sound familiar?

Fast forward a couple of millennia. Jesus renames Simon to Peter, meaning rock. Why? Could it be the disciple who was known as impetuous and hotheaded also had a change in trajectory for his life? Could it be that the ear-slicing, Christ-denying, quick-to-tell-Jesus-how-it-is man of impulse was on his way to becoming a foundation for the most earth-shifting building known to earth? Peter means rock…a rock-solid confession as to who Jesus really is, a rock upon which the physical body of church can be built, and a changed man who can bear the weight of many because he first followed the cornerstone. 

Fast forward to Saul. Angry. Too smart for his own good. A leader among wolves without really knowing or caring if he was a wolf. A smudge of bloodlust there based off his disdain for Christ followers. A stone-cold killer. Nobody ever would have picked him in a schoolyard as one who was going to change the world for the better. And yet the stark nature of the blinding to see, from taker of life to bringer of it, is so impactful to us today. When does his name change? When Jesus said so, just like the others. Paul-a longshot of a hero in the faith, was commissioned by the Holy Spirit to pen a massive piece of the New Testament. He who was once blind now saw clearly. Amazing grace!

One was the father of our faith. Another set the generational tone for a wayward, wandering people to wrestle with God and break free from spiritual slavery. Another was a pioneer for the body of Christ to form and to be commissioned to go forth into the earth. The last went from enemy to apostle on a road that narrowed for him. All of them were given a new name which put them on a new path with a fresh purpose. 

So, what does this matter to you, reader? Here it is. Maybe you have lived a lie. Maybe you have grown up in a generational pattern. Maybe you have thought you knew better. Maybe, you have been an enemy to someone who wants to love you. Maybe you are living up to an old name-the old man of sin within you that besets you, weighs you down, surrounds you. Could it be that your identity no longer serves you, and there is room for a name change?

I was a liar-a chronic one that fell victim to lies morphing into truth because I lived them for so long. My identity was wrapped up in a person I invented to keep God out. I was impatient unwilling to wait upon a god that I believed had no interest in me. I wanted my piece of the pie in the family, so I became good at being bad. I was impulsive, always trying to justify my impulsivity as instinct. And I was God’s enemy, unrepentant and an agitator. 

If I am being honest, I carried that mess into my discipleship under Jesus. I held on to this old man. In January, I received a name change. The voice I heard told me I would never be good enough for anyone-not Jesus, my wife, my children, my church. I used to be a rat-filthy, beady-eyed, sinister, the thing of people’s nightmares, including my own. Then I went to a mountaintop-also a literal one-to test my faith. There my inheritance was questioned, and I wrestled with God in unfamiliar spiritual territory. I saw that I fit Jesus in a box of my choosing. I realized that I was blind to so much in my heart.

When offered the choice to be a chain breaker and to accept a new name, I took it. Will you take the tie to wrestle with God and allow Him to turn you into something new? Will you let Him forge your identity and speak over you who you really are? Will you let him change your name? 

My name was Rat. It is now Tranquil Tiger. Nice to meet you, friend. What’s yours?