HE KNOWS YOUR NAME

 

What a wonderful, yet eye-opening birthday I had yesterday. 

I was blessed by my family and friends and at the same time reminded me of just how precious and fleeting life can be. Thank you is indescribable for the love and blessings I was showered with yesterday. I am beyond grateful and humbled!

If I'm honest, it was probably one of the most eye-opening birthdays I have had to-date. And trust me, I've had just a few. 

Let me explain...

Ryan and I attended a funeral to express our love and support for a dear friend of Ryan's. They have shared a close bond, having worked together for over two decades, and yesterday, we had the privilege of honoring his father as he was laid to rest. 

I have to be honest, that was probably the sweetest service and honoring of a person I have been to in quiet some time. What continues to ring in my ears are the words that were repeated by the son, grand-daughter, wife, and all who knew this man. His mantra was....

"When you don't know what to say or do, just speak the Name of Jesus."

Oh my! I sat in that service and cried. While my family will tell you that is nothing new. They would be correct. I am the person you will see pulled over on the side of the road, in complete silence, weeping for a family I don't know as a funeral percussion passes by. 

We left the service and proceeded to pick up our daughter who had the privilege of celebrating the birthday of her closest friend, while we celebrated the ending and 'new birth' of one who's time had ended here on earth.  

At 9:58 pm last night, I received a text that a sweet sister in Christ had lost her sister to cancer. She had passed from this life and entered into the arms of our Saviour. I did not see the text until this morning because I had already gone to bed with my sweet daughter. Yes, I told you, I'm getting older - or actually, let's just call it wiser. :)

What I felt this morning, in the quiet moments in prayer was how ironic the events of yesterday were. The irony of life and death in the events that unfolded yesterday were surreal. The fact that we all take life for granted until something of this magnitude is staring you in the face is no secret; we just don't admit that we can sometimes be that shallow that we take life for granted.

My Bible verses of study yesterday morning was from Provers 3:1-10, and the caption was "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." The irony of those scriptures, not realizing what the events of the day would hold, were right on time. 

See, in order to trust God and follow Him, we need to resist doing life the way we think is right. God's ways are different from our ways. Solomon urges us to not lean on our own understanding, because a lot of times our ways take us in the wrong direction. If we trust in God and follow Him, He will direct us and keep our paths straight.  

This morning my Bible study is from the books of Job and Psalms. Two of my favorite books. 

Job 38:1-15 catalogs God's greatness in creation. When I read and studies these chapters, I found myself astonished the most by verse 2. "Who is this that obscures My plans with words without knowledge?"

WHOA! Have you ever really read that? And have you paused long enough to marinate on what it truly means? 

Follow it with Psalm 46:10 (my mother's favorite Bible verse). "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 

Couple the two and you know that this was orchestrated by the Master. 

So often, we run around doing life without ever pausing to think about the grand God we serve. We look at nature and say, "Thank you, God for the beautiful sunrise or sunset." But do we stop and think about how He created the sun, how He set the foundation of the earth?

What a BIG, HUGE God He is, and how amazing it is that such a powerful, all-knowing, incredible God cares about each one of us. 

Today, I encourage you. Whatever storm you are in the middle of, or battle you may be facing, I want to simply remind you that HE KNOWS YOUR NAME. 

The same God who created the universe wants to be involved in your life. The same God who gave the waves of the ocean their boundaries and said, "You will go no further," wants to hear about your day and carry your burdens. 

It is important that we remind ourselves of how big God is, and to be still long enough to know - in the depths of our being - that HE IS GOD. We need to know that so when the dark days come, we can trust that our God is big enough to handle all our problems. When we try to comprehend how awesome God is, we will see He is much bigger than this world, and in Him all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

Remember, as I've always said, if you take nothing else away from my blog, I pray you will never forget that you are wonderfully and fearfully made (Psalms 139:14). 

Pretty words aren't always true, and true words aren't always pretty, but when the truth is spoken, it's always beautiful and that's what you get when you visit my blog. 

Life is messy.... thank God for Bounty Paper towels, Grace, and Mercy! 

With love,

Candye ~

"...the battle is the Lord's" (I Samuel 17:47)