Written by Rebecca Johnson
Recently, I came across an old video of Steve Irwin with his daughter Bindi Irwin around the time her little brother was born. The parents had named him Robert, but little Bindi wanted to call him Brian instead.
It was such a small, innocent moment,but then I read a comment that said Bindi used to help name the animals at the zoo.
And immediately, my mind went to Scripture.
In Genesis 2:19, God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would call them and whatever Adam called them, that became their name.
God didn’t interrupt him.
He didn’t correct him.
He allowed Adam to name what was before him.
And suddenly, I had this thought:
What do I call myself?
Waiting for Permission
For most of my life, I felt like there was a threshold I couldn’t get past.
Like I was standing outside the door of my own life waiting for permission to enter.
If I’m honest, it wasn’t just permission I was waiting for… it was recognition.
I was waiting for people to:
- See me
- Validate me
- Call me gifted
- Acknowledge what God had placed inside of me
I wanted people to “get it” before I fully stepped into it myself.
As if their recognition would somehow make it real.
But recently, I had to ask myself a hard question:
Do I actually believe I am who God says I am?
An Identity Problem, Not a Permission Problem
I realised the issue was never just about permission.
It was identity.
Because if I truly believed what God called me, I wouldn’t be waiting for human confirmation to move forward.
I would already be walking in it.
Fully present.
Fully invested.
Fully surrendered to the calling.
Instead, I carried the weight of what people called me more than what God called me.
And maybe that’s why I felt stuck.
Because when you live more from human labels than heavenly identity, you’ll constantly wait for others to crown what God already named.
God Is Waiting for You to See It
What struck me about Adam naming the animals is that God trusted him.
There was authority in naming.
And I wonder how many of us are living beneath what God called us because we’re still waiting for the world to agree first.
But heaven already knows your name.
God already called you:
- chosen
- daughter
- healed
- gifted
- set apart
- royal
- called
The question is:
Do you believe it?
Because there comes a point where you stop waiting for people to recognise what God already revealed.
Stop Waiting to Be Introduced
I think sometimes we live like we’re waiting for someone to announce us.
To finally say:
“There she is.”
“She’s talented.”
“She’s called.”
“She belongs here.”
But what if God has been waiting for you to believe it first?
Not arrogantly.
Not performatively.
But confidently in Him.
Because identity rooted in God doesn’t need constant validation from people.
An Invitation
Maybe today God is asking you:
What have I called you that you still refuse to believe?
What label from people are you carrying more heavily than My voice?
What would happen if you fully stepped into who I created you to be?
Closing Thought
You do not need permission to become who God already called you.
The issue was never whether heaven recognised you.
It was whether you recognised yourself through God’s eyes.
And maybe freedom begins the moment you stop asking the world to name you…
and finally believe the name God already gave you.
Raising Esther's Ministries 