Ancient Whispers by Gale Jeror Posted January 29, 2011 I was to be named Gordon Albert, but a funny thing happened moments before I was born. Right as she was being wheeled into the delivery room, my mother (who doesn t recall this at all) told my very puzzled father: remember now, her name is Donna Gale. And it was so. Their first born was a daughter rather than the son that absolutely, positively everyone had expected; and I was named a name that neither of them knew in their hearts before that moment. (Yes, this takes place before the introduction of the ultrasound.) What s in a name? I often wondered about that growing up. I was horrified as an awkward teen to find that the only other Gale (spelled properly ) in the whole world was Gale Gordon on the Lucy Show. Gale Gordon!?!?!? He was a guy! Great; I already had few friends and no boys interested in me and now I find this out. So I tried to change my name from Gale to Donna but no one could remember to call me Donna since they had known me as Gale for at least 8 years. So I gave up. It was easier to laugh at myself. I became Gale-Force-Wind ( Big Wind for short and put up with all the adolescent jokes about that). Why bother bringing up this little story? Well, to share a revelation I pray will be encouraging. It seems to me that as adults we are brought into remembrance of those questions that are etched on our hearts at an earlier age. In this case, early during my adult walk, I discovered that we could
look in just about every book of the Bible for a clue to see how precious and important names are in God s sight. Later I was shown that many figures in the bible were renamed after they were called by God. Then something very obvious and simple: they themselves never tried to change their names. It was always God who pronounced their new names, unlike my fruitless efforts to change my own. But the question still lingered. What s in a name? I was not to be satisfied with all these bits and pieces of the Truth, and years came and went with that question getting buried deeper and deeper in my heart. Now fast forward twenty or so years when Revelation 2:17 comes forward to hit me over the head rather persuasively (Thank you, Father!). All of a sudden I could really see that a name is given to each of us which no man knows save he that receives it. A new name! For each of us! Which no man except the receiver knows All of a sudden I am unearthing my new name and it is more precious than every name on (in my) earth! What s in a name I asked? What a loaded question! Thank you Father for etching it on my heart all my life to bring me to see the answer in such an unexpected way! And that is just one example of what I can only describe as those ancient whispers that seem to have always been with me, hidden and buried until God deems it time for me to un-earth them, revisit them, learn and grow with them. Another example of those whispers coming to fruition was the first time I was stopped in my tracks listening to one of the audios on the Revelation series. An answer to a question that had been on my heart from what seemed like the beginning of time came forward. I literally stood there on a deserted street in the wind and snow
replaying that little gem over and over and over and over, overwhelmed at how simple the answer was and at how great our God is. Good-bye false doctrines, Hello Jesus Christ and God whom He reveals. Thank you Father! I ve had a sense of not belonging in this world most of my life. I grew up in a family of 2 girls who lived with their two working parents and a very strict live-in step-grandmother. As the older of the two children, my sister was my responsibility as far as my grandmother was concerned, and it seemed to me that nothing I did was good enough. As she lived full-time with us, she was our live-in babysitter, and I dreaded those nights when my parents went out together. I tried to stay out of the way and I tried my very best to please her, but I always came up short. I cried often but kept it to myself knowing no one could fix it. I read a lot and was somehow, without being able to articulate why, consoled with the stories of Samuel and Moses. I learned how to grow walls around me so that I wouldn t be hurt and learned to smile when it hurt inside. I learned to blame myself for my troubles. I hated failure in myself; so much so that when people started dying on me as a cardiac nurse, I couldn t take the failure of it and eventually quit nursing over it. I was convinced that it was up to me to fix my failures, my relationships and my sins. I went through many years trying to perfect the flesh and have only recently been given eyes to see that that was the plan in the first place! He eventually, in his most perfect timing, pulled me out of an unhealthy marriage and I left with nothing but a few personal possessions. God has given me many relationship-type giants for my tailor-made walk that He is still working in me. I thank God for
the eyes he s un-scaling within and the longsuffering and patience He is working in me. I now see that Christ is right here to hold me and hug me and drag me through. I ve been brought to see that this was true even when I stopped praying and studying His Word for a season. I really and truly didn t get that he was orchestrating the whole thing for my growth. God is Sovereign oh yes indeed! As a daughter of God, I am being given to look behind me and within me, to see with clarity where I have walked: behind others who are further along and in front of those yet to come. It is a marvelous sight really; one that brings me to my knees praising our God on High, where we praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Thank you Father! I ve been shown that we all walk that journey -- at God's appointed time -- out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, into the wilderness, to the fighting of giants, to eventually embracing Babylon, in order to come out of her my people. As you can see, my walk is no different and it is encouraging to know that I have never been alone in that walk The dream is One Oh, I remember the first time I really heard that! I just couldn t keep the joy to myself so I wrote Mike to thank him for the wonderful works God was doing through him. I ve come to know a few brothers and sisters in Christ since then, and I am blessed to know each and every one more and more through our fellowship calls and prayer requests and emails. The dream is most assuredly one. I am amazed at what God is doing in each of our lives and how it really is one event unto all men, as tailor-made as the details themselves may be. The like-mindedness that we share is in sharp
contrast to the rest of my life where I was not likeminded with anyone. And it is such a huge blessing. I seem to say that a lot, but I really can t express it better than that. It is most assuredly of God and is a pure gift of His Love for us, as undeserving as I am, and it is a huge blessing. But I must say that I am doubly blessed with the growing friendship of one brother in Christ with whom I am privileged to walk. He is the reason I started fellowshipping with the brethren here, and Christ-in-him is helping me grow exponentially in His Grace and Knowledge and Truth. I thank God for him every day and see first-hand how the light of Christ can heal wounds that are so deep that you feel that they are mortal eternal wounds never to be healed. It is so hard sometimes to see what Christ is fashioning in our lives but when we get glimpses of the Work, we fall to our knees in awe and gratitude. To walk so intimately with another so likeminded is a miracle! He is my brother, my friend and my husband-to-be, God Willing, the one I will walk beside, in God s service together as one. To find others that share in a common affliction and a common joy is astounding. To hear other stories of struggles, rejection, trials, conviction, conversion wow. To come to a space of real gratitude for these trials is a tremendous blessing. I can come here to reach out and lean on and cry out with the Body of Christ to be encouraged and encouraging. What s in a name? I have finally gone from asking that question to wanting to know intimately that blessed and holy Name. Thank you Father for showing me that it is not what we know but Who we know by the Grace of God and that the dream is one and that we are all made One with one Name under heaven. Meditating on 1 John 4:17 is much more personal and real now. (Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world) Amen!