We are living in a very complex world and it seems that life has amounted to what we are labelled as in society.
A few months back I came to realisation that I, for one, am so tired of having to prove myself, ‘“Keeping up with the Joneses” as they say.
After losing my job and a failed business venture I felt ashamed and a complete failure, exactly what my teacher in grade school and other people said I amount to.
I immediately applied for a new job, any job and started working in an industry that was completely unsatisfying. I felt the need to justify my decision to others and myself by explaining that I needed a job, income and stability. Have you ever felt the need to prove and explain yourself to those around you?
One morning I asked myself ‘why are you doing this and who are you doing it for?’
I realised that I needed to change my focus, rather than trying to prove myself to those around me. It would be better to use my time and energy and wrestle these feelings of being inadequate, a failure, with God. Life might knock us down and people might pin toxic, untrue labels on our back, we may even wrongly label ourselves as I did.
But God never does. Instead He spends a lot of time taking labels off of us, and whispering to us a new name, our unique one of a kind God-given identity, a new label.
God was starting to give me a new name, at first I thought it was absurd, how can I give up my job and start my own business? I was wrestling with God and trying to justify why it will be a complete and utter failure, just as all the labels I have worn. It is often essential for us to wrestle with God because in the process we discover our new names. This journey is intensely personal and it sometimes leads us to old wounds that we need to heal before we can start our transformation.
Our transformation cannot come through looking at our Facebook feeds and comparing ourselves to others. It’s a gift that can only be received by stepping away from the noise of the world and quieting our souls to hear the voice of God. I needed to start believing in myself, to do what God was calling me to do, instead of listening to the labels that were limiting me. Just as David was labelled before his fight with Goliath, we need to realise that if God has called you to slay giants, then He will be sure to make you into a giant slayer. God doesn’t call the qualified.
He qualifies the called. He leads us in how to live boldly and courageously in the face of difficulty and to amaze the world by beating the odds, all for His glory.
God loves us unconditionally, His love is not based on our performance or our status on social media. Don’t we all have the tendency to take our seasons, struggles, and strengths on as our new name, instead of realising that our God given name is more than just a label on our backs to get us by. We are so much more than that, our names are written in the book of life, the same name that will go with us to heaven.
In my journey to discover my new name, I had to make a mind shift and not focus on the me anymore, but on what new work He wants to do in and through me.
Eighteen months ago I took the plunge and started my new business venture with God at my side. I got rid of all the old labels and as my faith walk still involves wrestling, waiting, self doubt, asking and receiving, I’m convinced more than ever that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think for. I can truly testify that I am a new creation within Him, and for the first time I feel that I’m living a purposeful life.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
the new creation has come:
The old has gone,
the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
I want to encourage you today to start taking off the labels that are holding you back, the ones that have kept you from discovering your new name.
God is waiting to take your hand and leading you on an amazing journey with Him right by your side!
Griselda le Grand is a florist, planner, designer without borders, hungry for the challenge to find creative solutions to execute unique and authentic experience. As she says in her own words: "My proudest moments aren’t only about design and the aesthetics of it, it’s about creating something that resonates with someone’s soul.” Her passion is to empower others to find their purpose, passion and creative self. She is the co-founder, Managing Director of Events Societe , Owner and Managing Director of Le Grand Design and Manager at Urban Venues - Groenkloof.
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