That I Might KNOW Him, Part 1

"And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee."         Psalm 9:10

What's in a name?

My name is legally Amy Rebekah Krupinski. This is my legal, married name. When I sign a legal document, that is the name I am legally required to sign.

But before I was a Krupinski, I was a Ferree. That is my legal birth name. I was born into the Ferree family and carried that name legally for the first 22 years of my life.

Just this week someone in church called me "Amy Ferr... Krupinski" and we all laughed. 19 years of marriage and I still am referred to as that Ferree girl or "Amy... Mike Ferree's daughter". Even Facebook knows me as Amy Ferree Krupinski - that makes it's official :-)

But which is it? Am I a Ferree OR a Krupinski?

I'm both, of course. Becoming a Krupinski didn't rid me of my Ferree blood. So, when you call me by my first name, Amy, you get ALL that I am, by birth AND marriage.... Ferree and Krupinski.

Now, that doesn't mean you know all of me. But all of who I am comes to you... whether you know all of me or not.

I am wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, photographer, writer, teacher, singer, musician... and more. But that doesn't mean I reveal all of those parts of me to you instantly.

I require you to spend time with me and get to know me, one step at a time; layer by layer, I begin to reveal myself to you. And the deeper our relationship goes, the more of myself I reveal.

I have close personal friends that know me better than most. They are familiar with my thoughts, they've learned my ways through experiences with me, and they have a certain level of understanding of who I am that acquaintances do not have.

They know aspects of my character through my ways.

Now, my husband knows me intimately. Not only in the Biblical sense, but he also knows the good, the bad, the morning breath, the parts without make up and hair fixed, the pieces of me that I hide—even from my sisters and best friends. He's the one that I usually allow to see how I really feel when someone has hurt me. He's seen me at my absolute worst.

Then.... there are things hidden even from him. Thoughts I never speak out loud, emotions I hide, stuff I hope no one ever finds out.... things only GOD knows about me.

So, this morning, I read that verse in Psalms 9 and it just really grabbed me—And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee...

How can I truly know Him? 

It very specifically says we must first know His name.

So, what is a name?

The Hebrew word used here for name is shem and means "a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication - honor, authority, character; i.e., reputation, fame, glory, memorial, monument.

Names are so important in the Bible, but especially the names attributed to God, whether named by a man or revealed by God Himself—they are a revelation of Himself, His character and nature.

"A mark or memorial" is so very interesting to me because that's how God revealed Himself to the children of Israel over and over again, beginning in Genesis. He would rescue them, or reveal another aspect of His character to them, and then mark that moment with a new name - a permanent memorial to that particular moment.

For instance, He is simply referred to as GOD (Elohiym), meaning "a supreme being", in the very first chapter of Genesis. And He reveals what that means by creating everything that exists to this day—from nothingness. Now THAT is what it means to be GOD!

In the 2nd chapter, the word LORD (Jehovah) is added, which means "self existent or eternal".... and a precedence is set: God will reveal who He is through His names. He is the eternal, self-existing One and we can trust that because He backed it up with works: creation of the heavens and earth and everything in it that continues to exist as He created it to do, to this day. That's what He is revealing each time He refers to Himself as Jehovah.

A little later, God reveals another piece of Himself to Abraham—He is the Almighty God, or El Shaddai. Shaddai, or Shadday, comes from a root word that conveys a deadly, destructive force. So now God reveals to Abraham that, not only is He self-existent and creator of all... HE is the most powerful, deadly force that exists anywhere, ever.

Now, In Genesis 22, Abraham gives God a name, based on who he has discovered God to be: Jehovah Jireh—the Lord who provides. For here God has provided for Himself a sacrifice and revealed another part of His nature to Abraham... He is the God who provides what we need, when we need it!

I LOVE that God allows Abraham to give Him a new name!

I have named God in my life before, without realizing it, as I learned to call on Him in unknown territory. I remember where I was the moment I asked the Lord Jesus to be my "husband".

I was struggling in my marriage and with my husband - as everyone does from time to time... just overwhelmed with his humanness and what that meant for me, his spouse.

For weeks and months I stressed over how in the world I was supposed to trust an unknown future to a mere man. How could I know he would take care of our family and be all we needed him to be?

It was a tormenting thought that drove my mind for hours and hours, weeks and months. Finally, in desperation, I cried out to God: JESUS! I can't do this! I cannot trust him with my future!

And I can take you to the exact place in the road where I was driving at the moment He spoke deep in my spirit: You can trust ME. 

I repeated my cry: I can't trust him though. What if he leaves? What if he gives up and walks out? What if?

And again, He spoke so kindly yet firmly: You can trust ME.

I immediately begged Him, without even thinking it through: Jesus, please be my husband. I don't even know if that's a thing, if I'm allowed to ask that of You, but I am. Please be my husband!

It was not till many months later that I ran across the verse in Isaiah 54:5 that promises:

"For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is His name...."

I may not have known, but HE did! He knew He had already proposed to me, long before my form was shaped in my mother's womb, and He was faithful and worthy to be trusted with my future!

In fact, that word husband—baal—means to be master, to marry, to have dominion over, to possess.

What a promise!!!!! I wept and cried as I read that verse months and months later. He let me know that He had accepted my request, had in fact been waiting for me to ask, to surrender to His possession and mastery over me...and He is trustworthy as the Lord of Hosts, the Captain of the Armies of Heaven!

Oh, what a Savior! Oh, how He loves us!

This is apparently going to have to be a series of posts... too much ground to cover as we peel back the layers to knowing in whom we have believed. 

And, I'm wordy :-)

To be continued...

Amy ♥