Unnamed

In honor of all unnamed, unborn children….

Written by Maddy Shreeman

Names carry such power. We name everything—people, animals, vehicles, objects… anything that could possibly have a name gets one. Except when it doesn’t. Perhaps your child never received a name, maybe you didn’t even know the gender of the baby. It’s soul-wrenching, the weighty realization that someone who ought to have been so fiercely loved hasn’t been given a name. 

How can you remember someone who wasn’t even given a name?

Though some precious lives may be unknown, unseen, unborn, and unnamed to those here on the earth, there is never a soul who stands nameless before God. 

Even when a child never receives an earthly name, God calls that precious one His own. “Child of God,” “His Own,” and “Chosen One” supersede human names, given or not given. Earthly names are but a faded echo of the names which our Maker has bestowed upon us: beloved, heir, holy, blameless, chosen, ordained, redeemed, friend, sanctified, adopted, made alive, free, and a citizen of Heaven (Philippians 3:20).

In Isaiah 49, we read that God appoints and names people before they are born. Your child is no different. Just as God saw the prophet Isaiah in his mother’s womb, so too was your child seen and loved.  

There is no being unknown, no anonymity before God—He knows, He sees, and He loves in spite of it all. The Father has gathered His own to Him, and His hold does not slip. 

Forgiveness has a name. Hope has a name. Freedom has a name. Peace has a name. Healing has a name. 

His name is Jesus. 

He knows your name and He knows the name of your child, even if you do not. 

If you’re reading this, grieving the loss of a child that isn’t even your own, or you’re burdened for the loss of life that cuts deeper than a double-edged sword… the loss of life, particularly the life of such innocence, is a cause that all believers should empathize with. We all grieve for precious life lost, regardless of personal connection. In Romans 12:15, we are called to mourn with those who mourn, and to walk alongside those who are carrying burdens. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God has appointed believers to “bind up the brokenhearted” and to “release from darkness for their prisoners.” 

Where there is grief, there will be freedom.

Where darkness has fallen, light will overcome.

Where there appears to be barren lands of ashes, beauty will arise.