Are you one of those people who is terrible with names?

I must confess to belonging to this group as well.

When being introduced to someone new, somehow their name starts to slip my mind’s grasp only a few minutes later.

This failing bothers me, because I know that people appreciate it when you remember their names.

My late father hit on a mnemonic device to solve this problem: You should come up with some sort of image to associate with the person’s name. That will help fix it in your mind.

He figured this method was foolproof.

Until the day he was in a camera store and met an employee there named Royce.

When you hear the name Royce you naturally think of Rolls Royce, a maker of luxury British cars. So my Dad decided the best way to remember this man’s name was to picture him driving an expensive British car.

The next time my father saw Royce in the camera shop, he confidently greeted him with, “Bentley, good to see you!”

(For those who don’t know, Bentley is another maker of luxury British cars.)

So much for mnemonic devices!

Aren’t you glad that we have a God who is perfect with names?

God not only knows your name, He knew you before you were even given a name.

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (Psalm 139:16)

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

God loves you deeply and cares about every detail of your life. He knows you better than you know yourself—after all, how many of us knows how many hairs we have on our head?

“And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.” (Luke 12:7)

Even though there are almost 8 billion people on earth, God has no problem remembering each of their names. After all, Scripture tells us He knows the names of each of the stars:

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” (Psalm 147:4)

And how many stars are there in our observable universe? Perhaps as many as 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s a 1 with 24 zeroes after it!).

If God can keep track of billions of trillions of stars, and recall all their names, don’t you think He’ll remember your name? The stars are just fiery balls of gases, but you are His beloved child, made in His image.

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!” (Psalm 139:17)

God said of Jerusalem:

“See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:16)

He has done no less for you.

You are important to God.

He loves you dearly.

He knows your name and will never forget it!

© 2021 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.