Hi, my name is Brianna Martin. But I’m sure you already knew that — unless you’re really not paying attention to the blog that you’re currently reading. In which case, welcome to the blog site of Brianna Lee Martin — Everyday Life from an Everyday Person!
Moving on. My name is Brianna. It’s the name that my parents gave me, and it’s the one that I answer to. And I like my name — I mean, it could be a lot worse, right?
But I think that our name is more than just those letters that we put together to form a word that people say to get our attention or to refer to us. We all have another name that refers to who we are — not just literally or physically, but who we are as a person. A name that defines who we are by how we live.
The best way I can explain what I’m talking about is by using the dialogue that was the inspiration for the title of this post. Now, if you’re from my area, you might be familiar with a place called Sight and Sound Theaters. If not, it’s basically a big theater that puts on incredible live musical productions of Bible stories (“Where the Bible comes to life!”). It’s an awesome place, and I’ve been to many of their shows and have loved them all.
Anyway, one of the shows they did a few years back was the story of Joseph. If you’re not familiar with Joseph’s story in the Bible, here’s the spark notes (on steroids): Joseph was a man who loved God but whose ten elder half-brothers jealously hated him, sold him into slavery, then convinced their father that he had been killed by some ferocious animal (and I thought my older siblings were mean growing up, sheesh).
Joseph spends his subsequent years on quite an emotional roller coaster — going from a slave, to being a man in charge of his master’s house, to being thrown in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, to being a man in charge of those along with him in prison, to being forgotten by those he helps and who could have gotten him out of prison, to being a man in charge of the entire land of Egypt and second only to Pharaoh. Let’s just say Joseph had many opportunities to be fed up with his circumstances and get angry at God, but instead he chose to remain faithful to God and continue to live his life in a way that honored Him. And though things often looked bleak, God took care of Joseph through it all.
Years later, “practically-Pharoah” Joseph is reunited with his brothers when they come to Egypt during a famine, and (after emotionally torturing them a bit) forgives them for what they did. Then he has them bring his father to Egypt so that he can be reunited with him as well (I mean, the man’s father thinks he’s dead for crying out loud!).
Now, here comes the title-inspiration part. Joseph is reunited with his father, Jacob, and it’s all emotional and wonderful. And while this isn’t in the actual scripture, whoever wrote the Sight and Sound stage interpretation of the story included a line in their dialogue that just stuck with me. In the production, Joseph embraces his father and tearfully says, “I kept my name, Father. I kept my name.”
That’s the kind of name I’m talking about. The name that speaks to where your heart is. The name that defines who you are because of how you’ve responded to your circumstances. The name that says whether or not you stayed faithful to God through all of the let-downs and hatred and beatings and lies and confusion.
When he was young, Joseph had been given a name that set him apart. He was the son of one of the patriarchs of the Bible — he was literally the son of Israel. God had granted him dreams in which he was raised up. He was blessed by God. Joseph was given that name, and for a while, things were going great for him.
But the key is that even when things eventually got very bad for him, he kept that name despite his circumstances.
The Enemy is alive and active in this world we live in, and he does everything he can to try to steal our names from us — the names that God has given all those who believe in Him and follow Him.
Forgiven. Free. Child of God. Redeemed. Saved. Blameless. Righteous. God’s Treasure. Sanctified. Children of the Day. Heirs. God’s Workmanship. Holy. Blessed. Friend of God. Chosen. Loved.
God has given us these names. So when the world tries to twist and manipulate and malign God’s truth when we speak it, when they try to tear us down and make us feel like failures, when they try to convince us that that’s not really our name — when the world tries to steal the name that God has given us, we fight for it.
We don’t just hand it over and let the world take it from us. We fight for it with God’s truth and love and grace and faithfulness. We fight for it knowing that God is right behind us ready to step in when we need Him to, because we’re losing strength in the fight. We fight for it assured that God gave us that name so that we could live it out the rest of our days and never let go of it. If He gave it to us, we’re meant to hold onto it — and so long as we do, He won’t let it be taken from us.
No matter what the world throws at you. No matter what lies are spread about you. No matter how much you’re hated for the sake of Christ. No matter how much it hurts and angers you. No matter how hard it can get to stand for and speak for the truth when the world is screaming lies.
Fight for your name, Sons and Daughters of the King. Because a day will come when we’ll all be together in Eternity, and He’ll give all of us all the joy and splendor of His Kingdom that He’s promised. It will be that day that we’ll get to hear Him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
And we’ll finally be able to say for good as we present ourselves before Him, “I kept my name, Father. I kept my name.”
“All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm until the end will be saved.” -Jesus, Matthew 10:22
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” -Proverbs 22:1
Brianna Lee Kauffman 