What about Who?
My baby girl is having a baby girl.
And as you can tell by the photo, her parents were just a smidge surprised.
When the pink smoke cleared, we all cruised across the confetti-covered ground to congratulate Grace and Austin who were noticeably, still stunned. Can I tell you a secret? I wasn’t.
I’m not saying I had some foreknowledge of my granddaughter’s gender before anyone else—I didn’t. As a matter of fact, if you’d taken a peek at my prayer journal in the preceding months, you would have read how I was asking Father for a boy. But here’s the lesson I learned through my confidential conversations with Him regarding grandbaby-girl number three—He is much more interested in the Who than the What of a person. And I didn’t realize by simply placing the pronoun he in my petition, I was limiting my prayers over this beautiful baby girl.
I also didn’t consider that in my own mind—I was limiting the Lord.
One day as I was praying for this baby “boy”, in my spirit I heard Holy Spirit gently say, “You’re concerning yourself so much with the ‘what’ of this child, and I’ve already completed that. Now ask Me for the ‘Who’.
Immediately, I understood what He was saying. When Father God decided that it was time for my daughter to become a mother, He had already worked out the what of the matter—a baby girl. I was interceding for many things concerning this sweet baby, but there was so much more to her than the mere what that I knew. You see, what minimizes our mindset to the problems of the present, or it maximizes the pain of the past. But who—well, that’s to come. Hope inhabits who.
Sweet mama with little ones underneath your feet, this is for you—who can’t see past diapers and days of Terrible Twos. And it’s for the parent of a preteen who overnight became someone you scarcely recognize. This is for the woman who longs for your man to be your spiritual leader—the one you know in your heart he can be. It’s also for the warrior whose tears over your wayward one have wet the worn-down carpet you’ve prayer-walked 1000 miles and back again. And it’s for the leader that’s aching to see breakthrough in the hearts and lives and minds and souls of those to whom you minister.
For every one who only knows the what of the ones you love, this is for you.
“What” is used as an interrogative in a sentence—in other words, it asks a question. Webster’s Dictionary says that the word expresses “inquiry about the identity, nature, or value of a person, object, or matter”. But who is defined as “the identity of or the noteworthy facts about each of a number of persons.” Did you catch that? When what questions a person’s value, who validates it. Where what seeks fault within a person’s nature, who speaks fact.
What disputes identity, while who defines it.
Satan seeks to impede our prayers by causing us to question. If he can plant just one sinister seed of doubt about the identity, nature or value of a person—particularly those important in our lives—he’ll make sure the weeds within the What of them completely overtake their Who. What remembers the past, relegates the present and as a result, resigns the future. “He’s always been like this.” “She’s just that way.” “There’s no hope for them.”
What doubts—Who dreams. What presumes—Who prays. What belittles—Who believes.
Scripture demonstrates where what focuses only on the flaws and failings of a person, God illuminates the identity within the who:
The what of Moses included murder, speech problems and resisting leadership, but the who of him talked with God face to face. (Exodus 33:11).
David’s what consisted of the underestimated shepherd and unlikely king that committed murder and adultery, yet who he was to God—a man after His own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22).
The unnamed woman in Luke’s gospel. Her what was all she was known for—her “sinful life”. She sat at the feet of Jesus with her alabaster jar, weeping and wiping His feet with her tears. The who of her was known simply as “Forgiven.” (Luke 7:36-50).
The stories of the incredible men and women of the Word are meant to show us that who someone becomes starts with what they once were. The two aren’t mutually exclusive–everything that makes us who we are in Christ today is because of what He’s brought us through every day since He called us. And praise You, Lord, You’re not finished yet! Even though the evil one seeks to defeat and discourage us in the middle of the what of the ones we love, Holy Spirit gives us sweet glances into their who.
The tantrums—be it teenage—or threenage—can be training ground for fierce faith. The strong-willed student is a glimpse of unwavering resolve. The man of the house is being molded into the minister of your marriage. The one wrestling with religion is learning to release the fear and failure of performance. And the person with a painful past is positioned to encounter extravagant grace. And the very best part?
Father invites us to participate in their Who.
When I relinquished my focus on the what of Grace’s baby and released to Father the who of her, my prayers began to take on new direction. Rather than worldly wisdom, I began to pray that she’d have supernatural discernment. Instead of having brown eyes, I found myself asking that when people looked at her, they’d see Jesus looking back. And more than having great talent, I declared that the legacy of her life means the breaking of decades of generational curses. So much more than a beauty that fades—that she'll have a beautiful heart. One that beats in perfect time with Father’s.
Precious Wives, Mothers, Prayer Warriors and Leaders, we’ve been entrusted with the ones chosen to change the world. Never underestimate your purpose, or God’s plan. Let’s stop limiting our petitions for our people based on what we see today and declare Who they can be through Jesus in the days to come.
Love,
