Through the lens of Woman

“What is His name?” (Ex 3:13). It is one of the boldest questions ever asked of God — and He answers it.

Most cultures throughout history have made God unknowable. Distant. A being whose name you don’t speak, whose presence you can’t approach, whose voice you don’t hear. Ancient Near Eastern religions did it. Modern spirituality often does it again — the universe, the divine, source energy — vague enough to require nothing, far enough to demand nothing.

The God of Exodus 3 refuses that. He gives Moses His name. YHWH. And in giving His name, He gives intimacy. You can call Me. You can know Me. I am not a distant force. I am a near Father with a name I want you to use.

Throughout Scripture, women have been the ones who most often pick up the gift of knowing God by name. Hagar in the wilderness names Him El Roi — the God who sees me. Hannah names her son after the way she heard God answer her prayer. Mary recognizes God in her own womb. Anna in the temple waits seventy years to call Him by His name in the body of a baby.

The Father has given you His name. He wants to be called.

One small thing today: pick one name of God that has felt particularly true for you lately — Father, Provider, Healer, Shepherd, the One who sees, the I AM. Use it out loud in prayer today. Use it like Moses, Hannah, Hagar, Mary did. He has given you His name to use.