I have called you by name (Part 3)

I watched them leave and then went to sit down. As I looked into the distance I saw a lady approaching. When she came closer she said,

“Hello, Child, I have been sent by the Lover of your soul. I am to be what you so hoped your other teachers would be and weren’t. I have come to sit beside you, walk beside you, and help you to listen to your new heart, for out of it flows the wellsprings of life. You see, Child, it was your heart your Lover was pursuing. Your heart means a lot to Him. He is a jealous Lover and invites you to join Him in His story, which is full of beauty and wonder. He wants to be your first love. Child, you are His. Yes, other lovers will come, and He will even bring the one He trusts to represent Him to you in a covenant relationship. However, your satisfaction and identity will only come out of a relationship with the Lover of your soul. You were waiting for, looking for, hoping for, expecting and leaning upon those people throughout your life, but every time you did, they disappointed you. Only when you wait for, look for, hope for, expect and lean upon your Lover, will you not be disappointed. He is immovable, strong and definitely can be depended upon to never leave you nor forsake you. Did you know it was your Lover who named you? Your name Azzan means sharp. He always meant for that to be your identity. He has made your mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand has He hid you and made you a polished arrow; in His quiver has He kept you close and concealed you. The Great Deceiver tried to steal that identity from you. He did everything He could to keep you dull, despondent and in despair, but the Lover of your soul, who so desired for your heart to be in love with His, made a way for your redemption, and has turned you into a sharp, threshing instrument. Azzan, you may have thought you were labouring in vain and spending your strength for nothing, but all along your just reward was with the Lover of your soul. He formed you in your mother’s womb to be His beloved, to give you as a covenant to the people, to raise them up and cause them to come into their inheritances. He called you to be a light to the nations, so His salvation may extend to the ends of the earth. The Lover of your soul has chosen you to say to those who are bound, ‘Come forth’ and to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves, come into the light!’ He wants you to tell them they don’t have to hunger or thirst again, for He has mercy on them, and will lead and guide them by the springs of water. The Great Deceiver sought to destroy your life, but those who laid you waste shall go away from you, and the Lover of your soul will contend with those who contended against you. In the coming years, you will lift up your eyes round about and see all these children gathering together and coming to you, and you will wonder where they came from. You shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament and bind them on you as a bride does. And your Valley of Disaster will now be too small for your inhabitants. Azzan, those are the promises your Lover has made to you, and you are to walk in the fullness of them. Let’s sing for joy and be joyful, Azzan, for the Lover of our souls has comforted us and has compassion on His afflicted. Now, come let us enjoy Him together!”
(Story taken from the book "The Treasure Within" by Kathy Gooch)