“16 See, I have engraved you on the palms
of my hands;” Isaiah 49:16
I have a confession to
make. I am a natural born worrier. I worry about everything and anything, but
particularly about my two sons. For the
last few days, I have been going through an intense season of concern for my
older boy. I surrendered him and all
that troubles me about him to the One and Only who can carry such a heavy
burden, only to pick it back up again after a little while. Today, however, I feel the Holy Spirit saying
to me, “you of little faith.” (Matthew 6:30)
I feel the weight of Scripture on my soul. I sense the question “why don’t you trust me
when I say “do not worry about anything”?
Therefore, today I resolve to renew my trust in Him and in all His
promises for they are true! As surely as
He lives, He is Faithful. He tells me
that He has a plan for my son regardless of his bad choices and tendencies, and
that such plan is perfect! It’s a plan
that will prosper my child rather than harm him. It’s a plan that will bring him a future and
hope. (Jeremiah 29:1)
Today, I resolve to trust my
Lord and my God for I know He calls my son His own, and as one of His own, The
Lord will never let him go outside the reach of His arm. He will not let my son go. He can’t let him go because He has him, as
well as all of His children, engraved on the palm of His hands. The Creator of the universe has “indelibly
imprinted (tattooed a picture of)” us on His hands, both of them! (Isaiah 49:16 – Amplified Version) We are on
His hands, a place of quick access, a glance away, never far, always within
sight, and permanently imprinted, as if by hot iron, never to be
forgotten.
Because of this truth, He will call us when we lose
our way. He has no choice. We belong to Him, just like He told us at the
end of Isaiah 43:1, “I have summoned you
by name; you are mine.” He cannot
let go of us more than He could let go of His own hands. This is what Jesus explains through his
precious parables regarding those who, though part of His flock, one day step
out of the path and wander away. The
Good Shepherd leaves the 99 behind to go searching for the one who lost his
way. He does not tire and does not stop
until He finds him; and once He does, He celebrates!
11 “‘For
this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and
look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock
when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from
all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” Ezekiel 34:11-12
He searches for us and He
calls us, especially when we have lost our way.
He searches and He calls and He rescues us from the dark places where
we’ve been. He gathers us together
again, after we’ve been scattered. He
calls us in many ways. Sometimes, when
we’ve only stepped out of the path for an instant, distracted by the busyness
and stress of our routines; we hear the gentle whisper of His calling in the
midst of our daily lives. Sometimes He
uses the voices of those who surround us to catch our attention. Other times, when we have allowed the world
to entrap us in its web of deceit, the Lord has to raise His voice so we can
hear Him amidst all the other voices that call out our names. Raising His voice might involve the need for
Him to put us in a situation in which He has our undivided attention, like that
young Jewish son who, after squandering his inheritance, ended up among the
pigs. Sometimes we too, after immersing
ourselves in the ways of the world for too long, end up tending the swine. We might end up tending the pigs in a jail
cell out of state, or in an empty house, or in a shelter, or in the streets, or
in a lonely bed at a hospital far from home.
However, our stay with the “pigs” last only for as long as it takes for
us to recognize Our Father calling out our name. The despair ends as soon as we hear His
voice.
He does whatever it takes in
order to draw us back to Him, for the reality is that once we belong to Him; we
are never farther away than the length of His arm. Regardless of the wrong turns my son might
take while walking on this earth, he won’t be able to escape the Lord for His
grace is irresistible.
Even if it might seem we
wander light years away from Him, it is only from our limited
perspectives. From where He stands, He
has only to look at the palm of His hands to see our faces. And once He sees us, He runs to us, puts a
ring in our finger, gives us His robe and orders a big celebration for all to
rejoice in our homecoming.
Do not be anxious
about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
Philippians
4:6
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