6-9-2017

Good Morning All,

          Matthew 10:30; “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered”.

   So how well do you know the people closest to you?  Do you know their eye color, birth date, favorite color, favorite meal, their dream vacation?  There is a lot to know about people if you think about it and what happens when what you thought you know changes?  Some people can be totally afraid of a thunderstorm only to become accustomed to it later on.  Some people can be convinced that they hate broccoli until they try it and then it changes.  There was a time when I liked a certain food.  Once, after I ate it, I became sick and was convinced that the food made me sick; I don’t eat that food anymore.  I changed so how would you know what I liked?

     The true test of knowing someone is when you respond even when you are not asked.  If you ask a friend, “What’s wrong?” and they respond, “nothing.” But you hug them anyway; that is knowing them.  When someone just shows up and starts to help or just sits and listens; that is truly knowing someone.  Because in the ultimate sense “to know me is to love me.”  That is how the old song goes and it is true.  For those we know best we know because we love them.  That is why and how we know them by the love that we share.

    Our heavenly Father truly knows us.  Our verse speaks of God as knowing how many hairs we have on our head.  This may sound like something spectacular but it goes much deeper than some form of generic knowledge.  The reason that God knows this isn’t just because he is all knowing; rather it is because he is all loving.  He knows this because he loves us.  The greatness of God is shown, not by his power but by his love; a love that allowed Jesus to die upon the cross for you.  So thus God knows you.

     As God knows about you, what color your eyes are or how many hairs you have; he knows the content of you.  He knows your fears, he knows your pains, he knows your needs before you do.  He comes to you with his love to comfort you, to offer you hope.  God knows you because he loves you.  It is an understanding love; it is an all-encompassing comprehension of the struggles in your life and hope ad knowledge that through it all; God’s incredible love is there for us.

    God knows how many hairs you have, not for inventory, but for the loving nature that brings you back into his family.  None of us are so bruised or damaged that God does not want you back; he always has and always will.  Trust in God’s mercy to see you through.

  Dear Father, you know me.  You know my fears, you know my pain, you know my joys and sorrows.  Give me the strength to stand up I the face of life’s struggles and keep me secure in the knowledge that you are with me.  You are there to comfort and console, to guide and to counsel.  Keep me safe.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret