What's in a name.

"I AM"

Exodus 3:14

I've been doing a short-term Bible study at church the past few weeks.  We are studying the different names of God, such as "Elohim," and "Adonai".  I generally refer to Him as "God", "Lord" or "Father" but the Bible has many other ways of referring to Him.  In Psalm 23:1, David said, "The Lord is my shepherd," and thus was born the name Jehovah-Rohi, "The Lord-my-Shepherd". 

Our teacher pointed out a few weeks ago that many of God's names came not from Him, but from His children, such as David, realizing a characteristic of His.  Other examples include Abraham in Genesis 22 ~ Jehovah-Jireh, "The Lord will provide"; and Sarah in Genesis 16 ~ El-Roi, "The God who sees". 

I was intrigued by the realization that who God is goes hand-in-hand with what God is.  And I started thinking of other names He could be called; names that I could call Him, reflecting on His characteristics.  

The first one I thought of was complete.  He is perfect, lacking nothing.  He is all that I need.  Therefore He is Jehovah-Teleios.

He is understanding.  He knows me, all of me.  He understands why I think what I think, and why I do what I do.  Therefore He is Jehovah-Leb.

He is waiting.  He is not in a hurry; His timing is perfect.  He waits for His children to accept Him as Lord, and He expects us to wait on Him when His timing says, "not yet".  Therefore He is Jehovah-Qavah.

The older I get, the more I learn of Him; the more I understand Him.  But everything I've learned of Him gives me strength and faith to want to get to know Him more.  Praying His names to Him isn't for Him, it's for me.  It's realization and reminder and simple acknowledgement of His perfection, and how He loves me.

~ "I am the Alpha and the Omega" ~

Revelation 1:8