Zion ~ A Name Revealed....

 

Ken and I are strong believers in the significance of a name!  Each one of our children has lived up to some aspect of either their first or middle names.  Think about people you know...don't you usually have an association with certain names?

So any time we find we are expecting, we begin the process of trying to discover their name...

When we began to reveal what name we would give our newest addition, we were frequently met with comments like, "Hmmm, that's interesting." Or, "Really, where did you come up with that?"

Well, it all began with this post. 

 

If you go back, you will find that this time last year was a very difficult time for our family.  I found myself walking in the deepest valley I had yet known.  Daily I was crying out to God to be my comfort, but in the wilderness, I was not able to see Him. (Mind you, he had not left me, only I was too focused on my own pain to really feel His presence.)  In January, God answered a simple prayer of mine that opened a path to see him.

 

When I originally typed the title to that post, I felt like God impressed upon my heart that we would be having another baby and naming her Jubilee.  Only a month later I found out I was pregnant, but soon lost that baby...(I posted about that here.)

 

Then a few short weeks after that, I was pregnant again.  I was certain we would be expecting a girl and naming her Jubilee.

 

Aaahhh...but God's ways are not always our ways...

 

When our 20 week ultrasound came along, and we had an opportunity to verify the gender of our baby, we discovered that I was actually carrying a boy! Surprise!

 

And so the pursuit for a name ensued!

 

Daily Ken would come home and open the name book and throw some names out at me.  After a few weeks of this, I finally decided that the One who created this little being knew his name and I just needed Him to reveal it to me!

 

God was quick to answer my prayer!

 

That very day, I sat down to do my daily time in God's word, when I unintentionally turned to Isaiah:51...

 

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: 

 Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

 look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. 

When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many. 

 The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. 

 Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing."

 

My heart lept as God's promise of comfort, joy, thanksgiving and the sound of singing jumped off the page at me!

 

I knew his name would be Zion!

 

Now to let Ken know! :)

 

Actually, as the day progressed and I asked the Lord to open Ken's heart to the name, God brought the Days of Elijah song back to me.

 

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord,
And these are the days of Your servant Moses
Righteousness being restored

These are the days of great trials
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still we are the voice in the desert crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord!
Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet's call
Lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee
Out of Zion's hill, salvation comes!

I knew it wouldn't take much to "convince" him...God would do the work!

 

So, what does Zion mean?

 

It means a sign or omen!

 

Zion is a sign to me that God has not abandoned me!

He will restore my joy with thankfulness and the sound of singing!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Be Refreshed!