Hei, Y’all

Do y’all know the story of Abram?  He is the father of Israel.

In fact, God told him that he would be the father of MANY nations (Gen 17:4).  God made a covenant with Abram, what we would call a promise or a contract. God told Abram that He would make nations and many kings from Abram’s bloodline.  There was just a tiny glitch.  Abram was 100 years old, and his wife Sarai was 90 years old, and she was barren.  He had no children with Sarai.  (Abram DID have a child with Hagar, Sarai’s maid, but the boy Ishmael was not the child of the covenant.  That’s a whole ‘nother story!)  But Abram was a man of faith.  He had made a habit of believing God!  Genesis 15:6 says, “Abram believed the Lord and it was credited it to him as righteousness.”

Here is the story, God changed not just Abram’s name, but Sarai’s too.  He added an H to each of them.  In Hebrew, the H is the 5th letter of the alphabet, and it’s called a “hei” (pronounced HAY).  It appears twice in the Hebrew name of God, YHWH.  It can be used in Hebrew as an abbreviation for the name of God, and it literally means “breath.” (Incidentally, you even make a breathing sound when you say it.) The letter creates the verb “Haya” or “being.”  It represents the life essence in all creation.

So God changed Abram to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah.  He added an H, a “hei,” in Hebrew.  He BREATHED on them.  He breathed LIFE into their names, and into their lives and a year later they had a baby!  That excites me!!!  As they say, “Y’all if that don’t light your fire, ya wood’s wet!”  God made a promise and created not only Israel, God’s chosen people, but many nations and many kings out of one super old couple with no kids.  And some 4000 years later He is STILL blessing Abraham’s offspring! What a mighty, life-breathing, generational, covenant keeping God we serve!

When we think of Abraham (especially when we think of him putting Issac on the sacrificial altar, Genesis chapter 22 if you don’t know the story) we think of him following God blindly. But he didn’t. He asked questions y’all – Abraham was my kinda guy. When God was telling Abraham that he and Sarah would have a child, Abraham LAUGHED. He LAUGHED y’all. And then he proceeded to EXPLAIN TO GOD, how he and Sarah were too old! Is anybody else thinking that hits close to home? I would love to sit here and tell you that I haven’t questioned God, but the truth is that more often than not I find myself saying, “Uh God….are you SURE?” or “You know God, we could just do it like this instead…” And even so, He doesn’t get angry with me, he is very patient. There are times when I finally get the vision and I imagine God wanting to roll his eyes and say, “Weeeell, look who just caught up,” but He isn’t that kind of God, and I am thankful for that.

So if God tells me he wants to add an H to my name, I could get on board with that.  Vanessah isn’t too bad, I don’t guess. (No more babies please. I know I’m not 90 yet, but…) More than that, I just want Him to breathe life into ME!  Into my walk with HIM! Into my life!  As Christians we are so blessed to have a covenant with the One who died for us, the One who loves us unconditionally, the One who leaves the 99 to come after us.  Breathe on me Lord!

Acts 17:28   For in him we live and move and have our being…

Genesis 2:7    And the Lord God formed the man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

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