A Hallowed Name and Friendship

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

There are millions of other things I could be doing or should be doing right now, but I find myself quietly following the still small voice of God to share this story today.

My life has been like a lot of other people’s lives lately. I have been stretched, stressed, confused, and questioning. I’m tired looking for respite in a noisy world. People around me have lost loved ones, are battling health issues, marital issues, work issues, and more. It’s a heavy season of death, infertility, joy kills, and struggle.

I find myself feeling deeply and carrying some of the burdens of those around me as well as those within my own self and my own family.

The other day I was so mentally and emotionally exhausted I knew I had to pray, but I didn’t know what to say. And my body and mouth felt too weak to even pray in the spirit. It was like spiritual paralysis. All I could think was, “Lord, I know I need to pray, but I can’t.”

That was it. Just the excuse of “I can’t right now.”

Last night, I awoke from my sleep sometime in the middle of the night with a dream on my mind. I am blind as a bat without my glasses or contacts, so I couldn’t make out exactly the time. Not that it really matters. But I was awakened in my still, quiet, dark house. A moment of solace. A sleep interruption turned encounter with my Maker.

The night before I had dreamt about deer dressed in cowboy clothes and boots, running through the woods, talking like rednecks and trying to escape from hunters donning bow and arrows. Go ahead. Laugh. It was pretty ridiculous. Probably from the gluten free brownie I had eaten before bed.

But last night, my dream held significance. It was a dream God gave to me. You always know the ones He gives. They are unmistakable. In my dream, I saw the words:

HALLOWED NAME

All through the night, I kept seeing those two words. God spoke to me in my dream and said, “Take refuge in my hallowed name.” Hallowed name? I don’t typically speak in King James, and I am not sure God does, but that’s what I got.

He also gave me a word for a dear friend of mine. Her family is precious, and I think of her like a sister. Her youngest daughter, who is now in kindergarten, has autism. Her name is Liberty. Libby for short. Her diagnosis weighs on my heart, especially when she tells me stories of her middle child, a son, asking questions like, “Who will take care of my sister if something happens to you and Dad?” He’s a child himself, but he is concerned about his baby sister being cared for as she gets older.

My friend and her beautiful family.

She has shared with me the internal struggle she has when she thinks about the future trying to be strong, unafraid, and trusting of a mighty God. She knows who holds tomorrow, and she knows He has her in His hands, but she still has to walk through the daily grind of parenting three children, one with special needs. She’s still a wife and a music teacher. She carries a load of responsibilities. She never knows when the next outburst will be, and when Libby hurts, she can’t always tell her what is wrong.

The entire family loves Libby and counts her a blessing. She is precious, intelligent, affectionate, and loved so very well.

It can sometimes seem like a situation with little hope, but my friend doesn’t give in to the lies of the enemy. However, she is human. And her heart aches with the ache of a mother’s love wanting her little girl to have an abundant, fulfilling, amazing adventure filled life. She wants for Libby what we all want for our children.

I’ve always told her the name Liberty was a name from God—to remind her every time she says it of God’s ability to set the captives FREE. And I am believing Him to set Libby free. Her very name means freedom.

In my dream I got a picture of my friend, and the Lord said, “Remind her I hear her prayers and see her tears. I am listening.”

As soon as I woke up, I googled “hallowed name.”

From Google: Hallowed, meaning sacred. Revere and respect this powerful presence to whom this prayer is an ode of homage. 

Homage. There’s another interesting word. It means revered publicly. So I am supposed to revere and show respect publicly to God? Okay.

So here I am. What’s next?

God reminded me of a very elementary concept, “Daughter, when you can’t find the words to say and your mind is swirling while your body feels depleted, I gave you the Lord’s prayer. You have it stored in your heart. Just pray it one word at a time…”Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name….” My hallowed, sacred, holy name is enough.

I sighed relief. Yes, how could I have gotten so wound up and forgotten the very prayer He taught us in the word. It’s the perfect example of how to pray and what to say. When you’ve got nothing else, pray the Lord’s prayer.

As I was explaining this dream to my husband, I told him, “I have so much hope for Libby to become verbal one day and to lead some semblance of a normal life being able to take care of herself.”

Tears started to swell up in my eyes as I spoke. The Lord spoke to me again, “Do you know why you have this hope for her?”

“Huh? Because I care about her?”

It was in that very moment God revealed love to me in a new way. He answered, “You have hope because you love. Why do you think my greatest commandments are to love me with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself? Because love PRODUCES HOPE. Love BREATHS hope. Love GROWS hope. I am LOVE. I am HOPE.

I am overcome as I type these words.

We have to love people in order to have hope for them. We have to bear one another’s burdens like never before. We have to link arms and say, “I may not be able to do a lot for you, but I am FOR you, I am with you. You aren’t in this alone. I will bear your burden. I will cry when you cry and praise when you praise.”

The more people we can love, the more hope we can carry for them. And it’s not an empty, positive vibes type of hope. It’s a hope in the Lord of lords and the King of kings. It’s hope in the Savior of the world. Hope in the healer of our hearts, bodies, minds, spirits, marriages, work situations, ministries, and finances. Hope in Libby’s healer. Hope in my healer. Hope in your healer.

And because we are His, because we are LOVED, we can have joy unspeakable and the promise of hope. And we can give the gift of love and hope to those around us.

Don’t underestimate God wanting to use you in the lives of those around you. Don’t underestimate the amount of hope you have inside of you. Listen for God to speak to you and through you. Share what He has given you.

When I shared with her, she told me about how she had a rough day with Libby the day before which led to a restless night. My friend knows God hears her, but how encouraging it was for her to have the confirmation, and for her to be blessed to hear how much others care about her journey and for her and her family.

I guess the main point of sharing this is to encourage you, whatever you are going through, to trust in the HALLOWED NAME of God. Take refuge in His name. Pray the Lord’s prayer (which you will find below) when you don’t know what else to pray, and love others well so you can give them the unmatched hope of Jesus Christ.

Love to you and yours!