When God Changes Your Name

Some of us are still answering to names God already changed.
 Broken. Rejected. Unworthy. Stuck. Angry. Lost.

In this episode of Chic in the Spirit, Sherita McShae dives into the story of Jacob in Genesis 32 and unpacks what really happens when God changes your identity. This isn’t just about a name change… it’s about transformation. It’s about wrestling with old versions of yourself, letting go of survival mindsets, and stepping into who God is truly calling you to be.

Sometimes the struggle is the very thing God uses to shift you.
 Because God won’t just bless you… He’ll change you.

If you’ve been battling old labels, old habits, or old thoughts about yourself, this episode is for you.

🎧 Streaming on all platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. Be sure to subscribe, download, and share with someone who needs this word.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Chick in the Spirit, where faith meets flair and style meets scripture. I'm your host, Shri Mache. Get ready for real talk, spiritual growth, and a whole lot of grace. Let's get into it. Hey y'all, and welcome back to another episode of Chick in the Spirit. I'm your host, Shri Mache, and I am so grateful that you decided to press play today. I don't believe you're here by accident. I believe God has a way of allowing us to hear certain words at the exact time our spirit needs them. So today we're talking about when God changes your name. And I want you to really sit with that before we even get deep into the episode. Because this isn't just about a name change. This is about identity. This is about transformation. This is about who you were versus who God is calling you to be. This is about letting go of the version of you that people got comfortable with. So you can step into the version of you that God is calling forward. Today we're going to look at the story of Jacob in Genesis chapter 32. Because in this moment, God doesn't just bless him, he renames him. And I believe somebody listening today is in a season where God is trying to shift your identity, but you're still holding on to who you used to be. God, we thank you for this moment. We thank you for this space. We thank you for every person listening right now. Father, I pray that this episode will not just be information, but revelation. I pray that whoever is listening would not only hear words, but they would hear your voice speaking directly to their identity. God, show us who we are in you, not who we've been, not what we've been called by people, not what we believed about ourselves out of pain, but who you say we are. Father, I ask that you break every false label, every old identity, every limiting belief that does not align with you. Let this word bring clarity, let this word bring transformation, and let this word give us the courage to walk who you've called us to be. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now I want to take us to Genesis chapter thirty two verse twenty eight. It says Then the man said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. Now let's slow that down. This is Jacob, and before this moment, Jacob had a history. His name literally meant deceiver, trickster, supplanter. He was known for manipulation. He was known for scheming. He was known for getting things his own way. And if we're being honest, Jacob had to learn how to survive through manipulation. He had learned how to navigate life through control. He had learned how to make things happen instead of trusting God to move. And some of us can relate to that. Maybe not in the exact same way, but we've had patterns, we've had behaviors, we've had ways of coping that we developed just to survive. Ways of thinking, ways of reacting, ways of protecting ourselves, and over time those patterns became our identity. To really understand this moment, we have to understand that Jacob is now at a turning point. He's about to encounter his brother Esau again, the same brother he deceived years earlier. And he's afraid. And it's in this place, this place of tension, fear, and uncertainty that Jacob wrestles with God. And this is important because some of the biggest identity shifts in your life will happen in moments of struggle, not comfort, not ease, not when everything is going right, but when you are being stretched, when you are being confronted, when you are being forced to face yourself. The Bible says Jacob wrestled all night. All night this was not a quick moment. This was not a light encounter. This was intense. This was persistent. This was a moment where Jacob refused to let go until something changed. And that right there is powerful because some of us want transformation, but we don't want the wrestle. We want the new identity, but we don't want to confront the old one. We want God to change us, but we don't want to be uncomfortable in the process. And let me say this some things in your life have to be wrestled out of you. Some mindsets, some habits, some versions of you cannot go into your next season, and God will allow a wrestle so He can remove what no longer fits where you're going. And after the wrestle, after the struggle, after the moment of tension, God says something that shifts everything. Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel. And this is the part I need you to catch. God didn't rename him before the struggle, he renamed him after, because the struggle revealed something. The struggle produced something. The struggle changed something. Israel means God prevails. So now his identity is no longer tied to deception. It's tied to God's power. And that's what God does. He takes what you were known for and replaces it with who you are in Him. And here's where this gets real. A lot of us are still answering to names God already changed, still calling ourselves broken, still calling ourselves unworthy, still calling ourselves rejected, still identifying with past versions of ourselves, still thinking like who we used to be, still reacting like who we used to be, still shrinking like who we used to be. When God is saying that's not your name anymore. And let me take it a step further. When you don't accept the new name God gives you, you will keep living in an old identity that no longer fits your life. You'll sabotage growth, you'll question progress, you will feel uncomfortable in new spaces because you're still thinking from an old version of yourself. And when you look at 2 Corinthians chapter five verse 17, it says if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here. That means transformation is not just external, it's internal, it's identity. And even in Isaiah chapter sixty two verse two, it says You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow, which means God doesn't just change your situation, He changes how you are identified. So now let's bring this home. What name are you still answering to? What label have you held on to that God never called you? What identity are you clinging to out of habit, not truth? Maybe it's I'm not enough, or maybe it's I always mess things up, or maybe it's I'll never change, or maybe it's this is just who I am. But what if that's not who you are anymore? What if that's just who you used to be? Because when God changes your name, he's not just changing what people call you, he's changing how you see yourself, he's changing how you move, he's changing what you accept, he's changing what you walk away from, he's changing what you tolerate. And it takes courage to live in a new identity because people will still try to call you by your old name. People will still expect the old version of you. People will still relate to you based on who you used to be, but you have to decide, am I going to answer to who I was or who God says I am now? I want you to sit with this. What version of me is God trying to move me out of? What identity do I need to release? Do I truly believe I can become who God says I am? What would shift in my life if I stopped answering to my past? Before we close, I want to speak to the person who feels stuck in who they used to be. You've made mistakes, you've had patterns, you've had moments you're not proud of, but that is not your final identity. God is not calling you by your past, He's calling you by your purpose. And just like Jacob, you may have a history, but God can still give you a new name. And when God renames you, your past no longer has the final saying. God, I thank you for being a God who transforms. I thank you for being a God who renames. I thank you for our identity is not locked into our past. Father, help us release old versions of ourselves. Help us stop answering to names you've never gave us. Help us walk boldly in who you have called us to be. Renew our minds, strengthen our faith, and give us the courage to live in the identity you've already spoken over us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, family, if this episode blessed you, do not just hear it. Sit with it. Make sure you are subscribed to Chicken the Spirit so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Monday and Wednesday. And if this episode encouraged you, share it with somebody who needs to step into a new version of themselves. And listen, if you ever want to write in, share what you've going through, or just connect, you can email me at Chick in the Spirit Podcast at gmail.com. I would truly love to hear from you. I love y'all, and I'll see you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to Chick in the Spirit. Don't forget to subscribe, share this with a friend, and follow me at Sharita Mache. Until next time, keep it cute, keep it covered in prayer, and keep it chick in the spirit.