INTRODUCTION to the series:
Several months ago – long before the Covid19 pandemic became the global focus of our lives – I surveyed newsletter recipients what topics they’d like to see me reflect on in my blogs. The answer (surprisingly to me) came back wanting to hear my reflections on life at age 66, now in my 50th year of following Jesus.
I started laying out a writing plan with topics and stories of lessons-learned… and then coronavirus changed life for all of us. In April, our team at DAI produced a month of devotional reflections built around our response to the pandemic. I was privileged to contribute a dozen of these reflections. Because my “blog” list and our DAI newsletter list has such little overlap, we decided I would run these again – starting Monday May 4th and appearing as a “reflection for the week” for the next twelve Mondays.
My prayer is twofold – first, that these reflections will be an encouragement to your faith and second, that at some point over these twelve weeks they become irrelevant to Covid19 because a vaccination/cure will be discovered, and we will be on the road to recovery.
If you’d like to catch up on past reflections from this series you can do so here:
Three Words for Daily Living: Don’t Be Afraid
If you’d like to subscribe to these weekly devotional thoughts, you can do so here:
God Knows Our Names
But now, God’s message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the one who got you started, Israel: Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters. You will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be dead end – because I am your God, your personal God, the Holy of Israel, your Savior. (Isaiah 43:1-2 from The Message).
A weary Christian brother from the Caribbean island of Barbados and I joined for prayer at a mission conference. He was facing some insurmountable obstacles in life and ministry. I asked him what kept him going.
He answered without hesitation referring to a worship song we had sung that morning:
- He knows my name
- He knows my every thought
- He sees each tear that falls
- And He hears me when I call
One of the most amazing aspects of the Christian faith centers around God’s intimate knowledge of us. God knows our name. He knows where we are, the fears we face, the obstacles ahead. He is our redeemer, our rescuer, our Father, our lifetime companion.
During isolation and aloneness, in the face of an uncertain future, in the deep waters of financial concerns or health worries or family fears, God says, “I know you. I know where you are, who you are, and what you’re facing.”
David writes, “God, I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking” (Psalm 139:1-2 the Message).
Hear God speak to you today and this week: “I have called you by name: you are mine.”
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for knowing and caring for me so intimately that no single thought or emotion I have is hidden from you. Please help me to feel especially seen and known by you today, so that I can see and know others with that same love. Amen.
Paul & Christie Borthwick serve with Development Associates International. If you are interested in learning more about DAI:
- Visit www.daintl.org
- Click on “get email updates” (https://daintl.org/get-involved/)
