Recently, my daily Bible reading plan has led me to passages that contain long lists of names. Let me be totally honest: when I’m reading through Scripture and hit one of those, my eyes tend to glaze over.

But lately, I’ve been struck by something profound hidden in those seemingly endless lists of names. Each one represents a person God knew intimately. Each name carried a story, dreams, struggles, hopes, doubts, and moments of both faithfulness and failure. And God remembered them all.

Think about it: these weren’t just the famous characters we know well. Mixed in with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are names like Mahalalel, Jared, and Methuselah. These are people whose individual stories we’ll never know this side of heaven. Yet their names are preserved in Scripture, recorded for all time as part of God’s unfolding plan.

There’s something deeply comforting about this. In a world where we can feel anonymous, where our struggles seem invisible, where we wonder if anyone truly sees us, these lists whisper a different truth: God knows your name. He knows the names of your great-great-grandparents you’ve never heard of. He knows the name of the person whose legacy seems forgotten.

Your name matters to Him. You’re not lost in the crowd or forgotten in the shuffle. You’re known, you’re seen, and you’re loved with a love that remembers names across generations.

The next time you encounter one of those passages, try reading it differently. Let it remind you that in God’s economy, every name counts, including yours.