First Published July 18, 2017 @ Standing in Christ's Love
I woke this morning early, before the sun had whispered its orange and yellows to the dark of night. And I sat in my little quiet time chair on the porch praying. Prayers that were not for me, but just of gratitude for the many good things God has done. It has been a rough year. I have wrestled hard things. But this God that I serve has not once forgotten me, His daughter, redeemed and adopted through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. He has not once forsaken me, even when I plunged head first in to willful sin, He stepped in to the mud and mire to rescue me. He is a good, good Father!
And when the light dawned, after I had spoken a blessing over my teen as he headed to work, I picked up His Word, spoken to the prophets so long ago so that on this day I could hold His Words in my hand, read them, hear His voice echo in my heart through them. In the quiet, my Father spoke to me...and my heart leaped with joy over what He said:
"Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me."
Isaiah 49:15-16
I have read these words before and found such comfort in them, but today, it is more that I feel. HOPE is consuming my heart. Hope and joy that He is with me and hasn't forgotten, that in the midst of night terrors and battling addiction, He sees me. The Lord is holding me fast, safe, and He is not going to let me go. I am part of Him. My very name belongs to Him...my Savior Jesus Christ wears my name engraved on the palms of His hands. Those nail scars are my name, written in love, so He will never forget and He will never turn away. I am His beloved child and I am continually before Him. He always sees me, sees my pain, my failing, my success, my joy, my floundering, my confidence, in the good and in the bad, He is with me. These are His Words. And so, again, I am led to gratitude.
And for you, this morning, His Words are the same: "Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands..." Praise God! He knows your name intimately and has marked His hands with a constant declaration of His love for YOU. May today, you know and feel the love of Jesus. May your heart rejoice in the knowledge that He bore nails for you.
