He Called Me by Name: From Brokenness to Freedom

As October 14 approaches, I find myself reflecting on one of the most significant anniversaries of my life.

October 14, 2003, marks the day Jesus met me in the hospital and began a healing in me that changed the course of my life.

As I have been studying the story of Mary Magdalene in preparation for teaching in Israel, I have felt such a deep connection to her story.

Luke 8:1–3 tells us that Mary Magdalene was one of the women who followed Jesus and helped support His ministry. Scripture tells us that Jesus had delivered her from seven demons.

We may not know every detail of what Mary endured before she encountered Jesus, but we know this: she was bound, and Jesus set her free.

And after He set her free, she followed Him.

She served Him.

She stayed near Him.

She supported His ministry.

And she loved Him with a devotion that carried her all the way to the cross and then to the tomb.

Her story reminds me so much of my own.

My demon had a name too.

Depression.

After living for more than twenty years in an abusive marriage, I had reached a place where

I no longer wanted to live. The trauma, fear, pain, and hopelessness had taken such a toll on me that I could no longer see a way forward.

But Jesus saw me.

He met me in that hospital.

He saved me.

He began healing the wounds caused by years of abuse and trauma.

And He set me free.

That was October 14, 2003.

More than two decades later, I still stand in awe of what God has done.

When I read about Mary Magdalene, I understand something about her passion.

I understand why she wanted to stay close to Jesus.

I understand why she wanted to serve Him.

I understand why she could not simply walk away.

When you know what it feels like to be trapped in darkness and then Jesus brings you into the light, something changes inside you.

There is a gratitude that is difficult to explain.

There is a love for Him that runs deep.

There is a zeal to tell other people, “He can do this for you too.”

That same passion I see in Mary lives in me.

John 20 tells us that after Jesus was crucified, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning and discovered that the stone had been rolled away.

Peter and another disciple came running. They entered the tomb, saw the linen cloths, and then returned home.

But Mary stayed.

I love those words.

Mary stayed. She stood outside the tomb weeping. She looked inside again and saw two angels sitting where Jesus’ body had been.

Then Jesus appeared to her.

At first she did not recognize Him.

But then He called her by name.

“Mary.”

And everything changed.

The One who had once delivered her was standing before her as the risen Lord.

Then Jesus gave Mary an assignment.

“Go and tell.”

She became the first person in John’s Gospel to announce the incredible news:

“I have seen the Lord.”

Jesus could have appeared first to Peter.

He could have appeared first to one of the other disciples.

But He chose Mary.

A woman who knew what it meant to be bound.

A woman who knew what it meant to be delivered.

A woman whose life had been transformed by the power of Jesus.

And He entrusted her with the message of resurrection.

Go and tell.

I understand that assignment.

Because when Jesus has rescued you from a place you thought you would never escape, you cannot keep quiet about Him.

He gave me my life back.

He healed places in me I believed were permanently broken.

He delivered me from the trauma of abuse.

He brought hope into my hopelessness.

And He gave me a new purpose.

That is why I share my story.

That is why I serve.

That is why I teach.

That is why I continue to tell people about the One who saved me.

Because the Jesus who set Mary free is the same Jesus who set me free.

And He is still setting people free today.

Maybe you are reading this and you feel trapped.

Maybe depression has convinced you there is no hope.

Maybe trauma from your past still controls your present.

Maybe someone has wounded you so deeply that you cannot imagine ever feeling whole again.

Maybe you have carried pain for so long that you have started believing it is simply part of who you are.

Please hear this:

Your pain does not have to be the end of your story.

Ask Jesus to meet you today.

Ask Him to come into the places where you feel hopeless, wounded, afraid, or bound.

Ask Him to set you free.

Ask Him to pour His Holy Spirit over your life and give you strength beyond your own strength.

The Holy Spirit gives us power that does not come from ourselves, the strength to endure, to forgive, to heal, to overcome, and to walk forward when we once believed we could not take another step.

I know this because I have lived it.

Jesus did not only save my soul.

He restored my life.

And as October 14 approaches, I celebrate again the day when hope found me in a hospital room and Jesus began turning my deepest pain into a testimony.

If He did it for Mary Magdalene…

If He did it for me…

If He has done it for countless others…

He can meet you too.

Call His name.

Ask Him to come near.

Stay with Him.

Listen for Him to call your name.

And when He begins revealing what He wants to do through your life, do what Mary did.

Go and tell.

Because someone else needs to know that freedom is possible.

Someone else needs to know that healing is possible.

Someone else needs to know that there is still hope.

Someone else needs to hear:

“I have seen the Lord.”

Love,

Tricia