He Knows Where You Are!

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:16

Have you sometimes felt that God has forgotten where you are or doesn’t understand what you are going through? You are not alone! Lots of people in the Bible felt like that. For example, just what was Adam thinking when he tried to hide from God in the garden? Did he think maybe God didn’t know every nook and cranny of His own creation? Abraham was regularly reminding God not only where he was but of the promise that he would have a son. When Gideon was visited by an angel he had questions as well

,” And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? ‘ ” Judges 6:13

Does that question sound familiar in your own life. Does it seem you would like to say with Martha,

“If you had been here my brother would not have died!” John 11:21

But God has not forgotten us! He knows exactly where we are, what is happening and how we feel. If you are going through deep waters today as you read these words, don’t give up or become bitter. God’s promise to us is that he has engraved us on the palms of His hands. Then if we pause to think we will remember that that engraving was with the nails of the cross.

As they pierced through the soft flesh of the hands of Jesus and His blood spilled over the rough wood. Your name and mine were carved on His palms. He suffered in agony that afternoon till He cried out “My God My God, Why have you forsaken me?” In that moment on Mount Calvary Jesus felt alone and forgotten so that we would never be!

His Peace

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 KJV

Notice in today’s verse Jesus didn’t tell us to be peaceful. He also did not ask us to find peace. Instead He comes saying, “I am giving you My peace.”  So what kind of peace belongs to Jesus?

First it is a peace that has nothing at all to do with our circumstances. Jesus was telling His disciples about this peace just hours before His betrayal and arrest. How could Jesus have peace? It was because He knew where He came from and He knew where He was going. That is what He offers us.

man and boy riding bumper car

Photo by Mariana Kurnyk on Pexels.com

Secondly Jesus gives us a peace differently than the world does. The world’s peace is like what I feel when I put the payment for our car in the mail. For a short moment I feel relief, but next month a new bill always shows up in my mailbox!

Last, Jesus giving us peace that doesn’t mean the battle is over, though some days I wish it were! “Perfect submission, all is at rest.” goes the second verse of Blessed Assurance. For me that offer of peace part but  the submission part…well not so much. But all through our struggles Jesus calmly waits. He has a peace to give that will stand guard like a sentry over our hearts that once we fully  trust Him in the driver’s seat of our life, He will take the wheel and leave us His peace that will carry us through any battle!

 

 

 

Show Me The Way

Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:405 NKJV

Often when David got in trouble, he went to the wilderness of Judea to hide. This Psalm is really his prayer and it had a lot of practical as well as spiritual meaning. In the desert finding the right way could mean the difference between life and death.  P1040698That reminds me of one day when I was twelve. My friend and I decided to spend that Saturday afternoon exploring the woods behind his house. We loved the mystery of discovering whatever lay just over the next hill and watching squirrels playing high above us in the sugar maples.

 

Eventually we came out to the shore of a lake where we lingered for a while skipping stones over the water.

P1040691 It was a great day until we tried finding our way home. Without fence lines, streams or other landmarks to follow we plodded aimlessly through dense underbrush without success. After an hour finally, we burst through some buses and found ourselves on the road about a mile from Steve’s house.

P1040702  When life feels like wandering through a forest God knows the way. When we ask; “Show me your ways.” He answers; “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me!” John 14:6