The most extraordinary people are seldom on the evening news. They are hidden from the limelight, humbly going about their daily routine. This is especially the case in the family of God.
On my recent trip to Ethiopia, I met one such remarkable person who told me this story.
My mother had five daughters. From a one-night encounter with a man she didn’t love and never saw again, a
boy was born. That boy was me. My mother did not want me, so she tried to abort me. Nine times she drank poison to try to abort me, but nine times she was not successful. I was born anyway.
After she gave birth to me, my mother left me in a box to die. Someone came along later, found the box with me in it–dead. They picked up the box and were carrying it to a place for my burial. On the way, I woke up.
I was raised by one of my sisters and, for whatever reason, I had been given a name meaning “evil.” At age seven I was playing and I suddenly heard a whisper in my ear saying, “Your name is Miracle.” From that day onward, I took the name Miracle.
Some time later I saw a vision of a gold chain coming down from heaven and lifting me up from the flames of hell. I knew it was God who wanted to save me, so I believed in Jesus.
A while passed. By now I was working, driving a horse-drawn cart. While standing on my cart, I heard a voice that no one else heard. It was the same voice that renamed me. This time Jesus said, “You are mine. I want you to serve me.”
So now I am an evangelist. I love to share the gospel about Jesus’ love and sacrifice for our sins. Often times when I am preaching, I feel the fire of God in my belly and it makes me so thankful for the privilege of serving God.
I know this story may seem far-fetched to some people but there was a believability in the way Miracle told it. Perhaps skepticism of such experiences stems not so much from their rarity as it does from the rationalistic worldview that has infected our thinking in the west.
I got to thinking about new names. Perhaps Jesus still gives new names because He has received so many Himself. In one of His last recorded statements (Revelation 22:13–again in a whispered vision to the Apostle John), Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
These names exude might. I am the initiator and the completer. I was there before anything was and I’ll be your guide through to the end. I’m primary. I’m ultimate.
Just the kind of Lord who would name a young boy Miracle!
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