Oh, Lord, what is man that You regard him, or the son of man that You think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. (Verses 3-4)
As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. Psalm 40:17
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord. "Thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11
I didn't wake up today thinking that God is thinking of me. My heart begins praying pretty much every morning as soon as my eyes pry open and I take in the fact that there is a new day ahead for me. I know I'm thinking of Him. It melts me to know He's considering me--meets me in this new day like I met my children when they were young and first awakened in the morning. Sleepy-eyed, hair tousled pit-patting into my arms. I was not only glad to see them, but anxious for them to wake up so I could hold a warm little body close to my heart. Is my Father waiting for my eyes to open in just the same way? He's thinking thoughts about my life, its direction and purpose. Psalm 139 says His eyes saw our unformed substance. Pre-womb. A thought become Kay. And you. My Father thought me into being, so of course He's interested enough in me to consider me now.
I have had a struggle recently about a heart-felt project removed from my hands and given to another. It was changed without my input into a form that only vaguely resembles what I had intended. In my desire to reconcile what happened with the will of God, I have spent many hours in prayer, talking with my Father on long beach walks. Wanting clarity. I put the project out of my thoughts for the most part nowadays. Think of it only when it's brought up. I'm working on something new and that takes my time and imagination. But the other day, my God gave me a wink. There is a thing that most people say about what I've written. It's universally the same phrase. And I heard it regarding the work I set aside. Exactly as has been said before about other works. And I knew then that though it didn't turn out the way I imagined, God was telling me it would get the same results. He was thinking about my heart. Spoke to me in a code only He and I understood.
My good friend's husband was having health problems. When he went to the doctor to be checked out, he was told he almost certainly had cancer. A biopsy followed then days of waiting. The couple has had such a struggle recently with jobs and heartache. Friends prayed. We all trusted God for a different outcome, though the doctor's words seemed certain. What my friend desperately needed to know is that her God loved her and thought about her circumstances. Hope has been thin in recent months. When the tests came back, there was no cancer anywhere. The surge of faith and hope that visited my friend after that announcement was as much about God loving and hearing her--His thinking about her and her husband--as it was about the actual healing. It's a powerful thing to know, for certain, that God is looking our way and planning our rescue.
A young couple we've known for several years has been struggling with things within their marriage and with their finances. Lost jobs, lost trust, a rocky, rocky road. At the end of their wits, with no money for rent, they prayed. And intentionally trusted. Not the kind that glibly says, "Oh, God will take care of us." No. This was a faith that comes from deciding that God would provide though there was no possible way for that to happen in the natural. Right before the rent was due, a Christian man offered the husband an hourly day job...and offered to pay their rent in advance of his work. The joy of having the rent paid was not as deep as the knowledge that the Father was thinking of them and planning their rescue. To know they are loved by Him despite their issues and needs--or maybe precisely because of them. The young woman's eyes sparkled as she told me about how Jesus met this need. "He loves me." That's what she got from the experience.
So what are we that God should regard us? His dear children. Before the foundations of the world, before stars were flung and moons were hung in space, we were on His mind. "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. Look! I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Isaiah 49:15-16
As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. Psalm 40:17
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord. "Thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11
I didn't wake up today thinking that God is thinking of me. My heart begins praying pretty much every morning as soon as my eyes pry open and I take in the fact that there is a new day ahead for me. I know I'm thinking of Him. It melts me to know He's considering me--meets me in this new day like I met my children when they were young and first awakened in the morning. Sleepy-eyed, hair tousled pit-patting into my arms. I was not only glad to see them, but anxious for them to wake up so I could hold a warm little body close to my heart. Is my Father waiting for my eyes to open in just the same way? He's thinking thoughts about my life, its direction and purpose. Psalm 139 says His eyes saw our unformed substance. Pre-womb. A thought become Kay. And you. My Father thought me into being, so of course He's interested enough in me to consider me now.
I have had a struggle recently about a heart-felt project removed from my hands and given to another. It was changed without my input into a form that only vaguely resembles what I had intended. In my desire to reconcile what happened with the will of God, I have spent many hours in prayer, talking with my Father on long beach walks. Wanting clarity. I put the project out of my thoughts for the most part nowadays. Think of it only when it's brought up. I'm working on something new and that takes my time and imagination. But the other day, my God gave me a wink. There is a thing that most people say about what I've written. It's universally the same phrase. And I heard it regarding the work I set aside. Exactly as has been said before about other works. And I knew then that though it didn't turn out the way I imagined, God was telling me it would get the same results. He was thinking about my heart. Spoke to me in a code only He and I understood.
My good friend's husband was having health problems. When he went to the doctor to be checked out, he was told he almost certainly had cancer. A biopsy followed then days of waiting. The couple has had such a struggle recently with jobs and heartache. Friends prayed. We all trusted God for a different outcome, though the doctor's words seemed certain. What my friend desperately needed to know is that her God loved her and thought about her circumstances. Hope has been thin in recent months. When the tests came back, there was no cancer anywhere. The surge of faith and hope that visited my friend after that announcement was as much about God loving and hearing her--His thinking about her and her husband--as it was about the actual healing. It's a powerful thing to know, for certain, that God is looking our way and planning our rescue.
A young couple we've known for several years has been struggling with things within their marriage and with their finances. Lost jobs, lost trust, a rocky, rocky road. At the end of their wits, with no money for rent, they prayed. And intentionally trusted. Not the kind that glibly says, "Oh, God will take care of us." No. This was a faith that comes from deciding that God would provide though there was no possible way for that to happen in the natural. Right before the rent was due, a Christian man offered the husband an hourly day job...and offered to pay their rent in advance of his work. The joy of having the rent paid was not as deep as the knowledge that the Father was thinking of them and planning their rescue. To know they are loved by Him despite their issues and needs--or maybe precisely because of them. The young woman's eyes sparkled as she told me about how Jesus met this need. "He loves me." That's what she got from the experience.
So what are we that God should regard us? His dear children. Before the foundations of the world, before stars were flung and moons were hung in space, we were on His mind. "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. Look! I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Isaiah 49:15-16
No comments:
Post a Comment