Nearly twenty-six years ago I stood at the altar and watched Amy Rebecca Bolton walk down the aisle. We said our “I do’s” and exchanged rings and a kiss and she walked back down the aisle as Amy Rebecca Smallwood. She took my last name which means all that I have is hers (it wasn’t that much at the time).
In fact, at the time, she wasn’t too thrilled to be moving down the alphabet from a “B” to an “S”. We were both students at Texas Tech University and back in that day, we didn’t have the benefit of registering for classes online. We had to stand for hours in a line that stretched into what seemed like eternity only to finally arrive at a station and to be told the class or classes you wanted to take were full. That meant you had to saunter all the way across campus to your advisor’s office to get approval to take another class and return to waiting in the line of infinity. If you registered at the beginning of the alphabet your chances of classes being open were much greater. Our marriage license now said that Amy had to register at the end of the alphabet. Nonetheless, she took my last name.
If you are a Christian, a disciple, and a Christ follower, you have taken God’s last name. That means all that is His is yours. That means you are adequate because God is more than adequate. It means you are secure because God is secure. Who God is, He is now for you and through you. When you think you are not ______ enough, He is!
You say, “God, I can’t be a good parent.” He says, “I can.” You say, “I am full of doubt.” He says, “But I am faithful.” You say, “God, I am so dysfunctional.” He says, “But I am so complete.” You say, “I am deficient.” He says, “Yet I am sufficient.” You say, “I am so sinful.” He says, “And I am so gracious.” You say, “I am at the end of my rope!” He says, “I’ve got another one, and it’s as long as eternity.”
It’s all in the name. Live into that name!
Ryan Smallwood
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