What's in a Name? William Livingstone Samuel, for Instance?

Two years ago, on this day, our family faced a tragedy.  We were 21 weeks along in our second pregnancy, and Deana, Tirzah, and I were expecting the arrival of the little one on February 9th of 2013.  But the birthday of our child came much sooner.  Our first son was born on September 28th in the afternoon in 2012, already departed to glory.  His name was William Livingstone Samuel, the name we had previously determined.

I well remember holding his little lifeless form in my hand, tears rushing down my cheeks.  Even at such a young age (it is thought that he passed away at 17 weeks), he was so wonderfully made, with a sweet face, little fingers and toes, perfect down to the little bone in his ankle.  The nurses were so kind, and worked hard to get his footprints for us--we treasure that precious card today.

We wept over his death with many tears, and still miss him every day.  But God is our Comfort, and His word was and is faithful to console and strengthen our hearts.  My little son's life was not in vain. God has used even this evil thing to do much good.  The brief life of my boy has provoked me to good zeal and even more earnest desire to rescue other babies whose lives are at stake.  I do not know how many times I have shared my loss with parents at the abortion mill.  And it has helped me better understand and stirred me to come alongside others who are hurting with a similar pain.

We now have two children on this earth, Tirzah and our second son, Edward.  We love all our children, and will welcome any more God chooses to send us.  And how I look forward to seeing William again, when I get Home (I Samuel 12:23)!

Today, I wanted to share about his name in honor of his birthday.  Anyone who knows me is aware that I like names.  Names are significant.  They have meanings, nuances, and can be influenced by other people that bear the same name.

His first name is William, which when dissected, is Will + Helm, as in a helmet.  Thus the meaning for this name has been rendered, "Constant Protector; Determined or Strong Guardian".  Deana has always loved this name, and I highly esteem many Williams that I know.  It is a old and noble name, denoting royalty and integrity.  You may know about William the Conqueror (AD 1028-1087) the
Norman king, who took and reigned over England.  A lot of kings, princes, dukes, and knights have borne that name in courts and in battles.  Therefore we chose it for our son.

There have been many Williams in history, a good number of which were defenders.  Here are a few of my heroes named William:
William Wallace - AD 1270-1305
warrior; the greatest patriot of Scotland, who yielded his life for his country!
William Tell - Circa AD 1307
patriot; crossbow shooting folk hero of Swiss history!
William Tyndale - AD 1494-1536
translator; martyr; defender of the holy, infallible word of God for the common people!
Dean John William Burgon - AD 1813-1888
pastor; dean; champion of the Bible; humble student and staunch defender of the Scriptures!
William Booth - AD 1829-1912
preacher; defender of the poor and the vulnerable, seeker of souls!
William Wilberforce - AD 1759-1833
abolitionist; battled against the British slave trade, the evil of his day!
William Borden - AD 1887-1913
missionary; gave all for his Saviour - "NO RESERVES, NO RETREATS, NO REGRETS"

I also love that this name was the name of six of the 56 valiant men who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, pledging their lives, fortunes, and sacred honour, to see their land and people have liberty.

William Whipple - New Hampshire
William Ellery - Rhode Island
William Williams - Connecticut
William Floyd - New York
William Paca - Maryland
William Hooper - North Carolina

William was given two middle names.  There are so many great names, I couldn't have just one!

We wanted each of our children to have a name of a great missionary, with which to challenge them in their lives. For William we decided on Livingstone, in honour of my childhood hero, the courageous and "forward-minded" missionary, David Livingstone (AD 1813-1873), who gave his all to see interior Africa opened up to the Gospel.  You can read more about him in another blog post of mine here! 

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the true "Living Stone" (I Peter 2:4), and we desired that our son would reflect the Redeemer, disallowed of men, but precious to God.  Christians also, as the redeemed, are called "lively stones" (I Peter 2:5).  In William's corner, where his body rests, there is a large stone, found in Wyoming by my dear parents and siblings, and laid there in memory of him.

We also wanted distinctively Bible names, and we picked Samuel.  His name means "asked of God" or "heard of God."  Samuel was one of the two greatest leaders of the nation of Israel, alongside Moses.  His name is mentioned 142 times in the Bible.

Moses and Samuel are highlighted in Scripture as men who were not only incredible leaders, but also men of prayer and mighty intercessors for their people.  For an example of each, consider Exodus 17:8-15 for Moses, and I Samuel 7:7-13 for Samuel.  Below are two verses that reveal the power of their appeals.
Psalm 99:6 "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them."
Jeremiah 15:1 "Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth."

Samuel was the only man in the Bible about which it is specifically said "...the LORD...did let none of his words fall to the ground" (I Samuel 3:19).  Samuel's words were true and carried through because Samuel was speaking what he heard from the LORD.  "Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD..." (II Kings 10:10).

Samuel served the LORD from his weaning to his death.  He was the last of the judges, and anointed the first two kings of Israel.  He was a prophet who foretold of the coming Messiah.
Acts 3:24 "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days."

I don't have space here to write all that the Lord did through Samuel.  You can search the Scriptures for more.  Suffice it to say, he was a hero of faith, as it is said in God's Hall of Faith... "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:" (Hebrew 11:32).

Before he was born, the biblical Samuel was dedicated to the LORD.  I Samuel 1:11,22,28 "I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life...I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide forever...I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD."  As with each of our children, we had dedicated our little Samuel to serve the Lord Jesus Christ all the days of his life, little knowing that his life would be so brief, and that he would "appear before the LORD" ahead of us.

How I yearned to have a William, a defender of the weak, a staunch protector of life!
I wanted to raise a little Livingstone to go FORWARD for Christ!  To dare for His God!
I desired to see a little Samuel grow, to speak the words of God and stand in the gap for others!

So what am I to say?

It would be easy to blame God and shake my fist.  It would be natural to pity myself and spend my time in bitter grief.  But then Satan gets a foothold, and I cannot allow any ground for the devil in my life (Ephesians 4:27).  The fact is, "...I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (II Timothy 1:12).  I know that in this world cursed by sin, there is trouble, suffering, and death.  That the Christian life is going to involve persecution, sorrow, and affliction.  I do not always have to understand my God, but I can always trust Him.  "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him" (Job 13:15).  His word is true, no matter how I feel.  "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28).

So in faith, Deana and I can smile, even through tears at times.  Watch what our God will do!  "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:29).

Words of a Living Stone

From a child, I have been drawn to the life of David Livingstone, pioneer missionary explorer to his beloved continent of Africa.  His was the first missionary biography I read, and it fired my zeal to glorify Christ by going into dark places and shining the light of the glorious Gospel to those who need to hear it.  He plunged into the heart of danger, faced impossible hazards, and declared the truth of God his King.  This man went forward in faith, and for 30 years, took on the task of opening interior Africa for the Gospel.  And he could say with Paul, 

"Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." (2 Timothy 4:16)

He stood out in his generation for the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). He did what no one else dared.  And history was not the same for it.  How my heart yearns to have a double portion of that which stirred Mr. Livingstone!   

My wife and I have named our children after missionaries (their middle names) that we have greatly been challenged by and learned much from.  We were excited to name our second child and first boy William Livingstone Samuel, in honour of my hero.  But our little man died in the womb and passed to glory ahead of us.  We held his little body, mourned our loss greatly, and gave him his powerful name before we buried him.  I miss my son every day.  

What would David Livingstone say to this generation?  To answer this question, let's look at what he said in his own time? As it is said of Abel, "he being dead yet speaketh" (Hebrews 11:4).

Young David lived in Scotland.  He spent many hours as a boy working in the mill, and additional hours in school.  But he loved exploring the wilds of his home, in which he would gather plant specimens.  On one of those excursions, David visited an old castle ruins.  Many other sightseers and picnickers had climbed the walls of the ruins to write their names.  David climbed high up in order put his name higher than any others.  Scaling the stone wall, the lad cut in his name with a penknife.  The stones of the castle were treacherous, especially as it began to rain, and the footholds became slippery.  He lost his footing once, and barely kept from falling to his death.  But he finished and climbed back down.  That next Lord's day, David was sitting in church.  The minister was preaching.

 "Why do people write their names on trees, fences, or walls?"  David pictured in his mind the castle wall.  The preacher answered the question.  "We all want to glorify ourselves.  We want a name that is above every name.  We want our name to be higher than all.  Why?  Why?  Why?  Because we want to glorify ourselves."  David's face turned red, and shame filled his heart.  The pastor continued, "The reason for living is to glorify God, not ourselves.  The name of Jesus is high and lifted up.  At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow."  Sitting in the pew, David resolved, "I'll live for Jesus.  I will glorify God, not myself.  Indeed I will."

David spoke and wrote much of this kind of devotion to His God:

"May God so imbue my mind with the spirit of Christianity that in all circumstances I may show my Christian character."

"All that I am I owe to Jesus Christ, revealed to me in His divine Book."

"Do not think me mad.  It is not to make money that I believe a Christian should live.  The noblest thing a man can do is, just humbly to receive, and then go amongst others and give."

"I will place no value on anything I have or may possess except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. If anything will advance the interests of the kingdom, it shall be given or kept, only as by giving or keeping it I shall promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time and eternity."

"Be manly Christians, and never do a mean thing."

The following was David's explanation of his calling, and indeed God's call to all Christians concerning the Great Commission: "GO ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature!" (Mark: 16:15)

"'Go!—as a trailblazer, a pathfinder, a pioneer!  Evangelize!  Do the work of a missionary!  And lo, I am with you!—hence you will never be alone and you will have nothing to fear!'  'That is a promise I can rely upon,' said Livingstone, 'for it is the word of a Gentleman of honour.'"

"God had an only Son, and He was a was missionary and a physician."

When in missionary school, David was asked what he would do if everything were to go wrong on the mission field and you were the only one left to carry on  the work.  David swallowed and replied.  "Though everyone else be dead and I myself sick, I would still go on, and if I failed, I would at least die in the field."

"I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward.  I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose."

"I shall open up a path to the interior or perish."

"Does not the King's business require haste?"

"If we wait till we run no risk, the gospel will never be introduced into the interior."

"Without Christ, not one step; with Him, anywhere!"

His own writings and those things reported by others regarding his personal life and ministry in Africa have had powerful influence on my own life.  I desire to live as whole-heartedly as this hero of the Cross.  

It was said that the country around Kolobeng was full of wild beasts.  Standing at the front door of his own house, Livingstone shot a rhinoceros and a buffalo.  He taught the people the value of irrigation and helped them in many ways, but what he enjoyed most, he says, was "to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, for it always warms my own heart and is the great means which God employs for the regeneration of our ruined world."

Whenever he had opportunity, David Livingstone would call for others to join in the mission work, to reach the lost with Christ. 

"If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them.  I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

"I am immortal till my work is accomplished, and although I see few results, future missionaries will see conversions every sermon.  May they not forget the pioneers who worked in the thick gloom with few rays to cheer, except such as flow from faith in the precious promises of God's word."

"Fear God and work hard."

"Sympathy is no substitute for action."

A biographer said of one of Livingstone's journeys: "They had many harrowing adventures, but finally, after journeying for more than six months by canoe, ox-back, and on foot, through forests and flooded rivers, in perils from wild beasts and savage men for 1500 miles of jungles which no white man had ever traversed before, Livingstone and his men came to Loanda on the west coast.  He had suffered thirty-one attacks of intermittent fever, had been assailed by huge swarms of fierce mosquitoes, and was reduced to 'a bag of bones.'  Yet he staggered on.  'Cannot the love of Christ,' he asked, 'carry the missionary where the slave trade carries the trader?'  He was not a missionary part of the time and something else the rest of the time.  He was a missionary all the time, whatever the means he was using, whether healing, teaching, or exploring.  'The end of the geographical feat is only the beginning of the missionary enterprise,' is an oft quoted saying of his.  His ultimate objective was always to honour his Lord.  'I am a missionary, heart and soul,' he insisted. 'God had an only Son and He was a missionary.  I am a poor imitation, but in this service I hope to live and in it I wish to die.'  His soul was mastered by the logic of love.  'God loved a lost world and gave His only Son to be a missionary.  I love a lost world and I am a missionary heart and soul.  In this service I hope to live and in it I wish to die.'"

"If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honour, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"

"For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office.  People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a debt owing to our God, which we can never repay?  Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter?  Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought!  It is emphatically no sacrifice...Say rather it is a privilege.  Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink, but let this only be for a moment.  All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in, and for, us.  I never made a sacrifice.  Of this we ought not to talk, when we remember the great sacrifice which HE made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us."

Near the end of David's life he wrote:

"Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair.  I encourage myself in the Lord, my God, and go forward.  I'll not swerve one hair's breadth from my work while life is spared."

David abhorred slavery and fought to see the slave trade abolished.  He stood against the evil of his day.  On his tombstone is inscribed:

"May Heaven's richest blessings come down on every one, American, English, or Turk, who will help to heal this open sore of the world."

A brief telling of the life and ministry of this hero of the faith can be read on the link below.
http://www.gfamissions.org/missionary-biographies/livingstone-david-1813-1873.html

May we go and preach the Gospel, and do the hard ministry in this society, even if no one else is doing it.  There is still time to win a battle before the sun goes down.