1-19-2022

 Good Morning All,

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

     When a group of rowdy boys get together, they often will start to compare scars that they have. It might start with a small one on an elbow then a little bigger one on the knee; then a bigger one on the leg then pretty soon all are giggling and laughing, and the stories get bigger and bigger.  Men rarely grow out of this. During the movie “Jaws” there is a scene where Brody, Hooper and Quint are sitting around comparing scars. At one point Hooper points to his chest and says he has the scar from when a little girl in junior high broke his heart.

     Scars can tell you a lot about a person’s life. A person who works with glass or wire will show the marks of arduous work. A person who works around hot metal will do the same. At the time of our verse, it was common for a slave owner to carve his name into the hands of a slave so the slave’s ownership would never be in doubt.

    This is, essentially, what God is telling us he is doing.  God has engraved your name on the palm of his hand. He has vowed to never leave you or forsake you just like that slave can never deny who owns him; God has promised to never forget you. He has promised to never forget, and God never will.

    We can find great comfort in this. God promised to always be there, to be our shelter, our place of safety. God will always be there to sustain through all the battles of this life. God does not tell us that we will not have any battles only that we do not have to face them alone. God is always there to comfort us, console us and to bear our burdens. We can take comfort in that we are never truly alone. At the times of our deepest pains of our greatest despair God is there to hear our cries and to keep us within his loving arms.

     This truth can give us comfort for this life and this day. We may be in a dire situation. We may experience pain, disappointment, and sorrow but this does not define us. We are in the moment but not of the moment. God’s grace is there to always remind us of the eternal life that is ours through his grace, given to us when Jesus took our place and bore the wrath that was ours, so we could have eternal life and eternal peace with God. In this we can find our hope, the hope of eternal life. In this we see God’s true promise made to us and sealed on Calvary. God has carved your name on his hands. He will not forget or forsake you. We are forever in his gracious hands of love.

Dear Lord, you have carved our names into your hands. You keep us safe within those same loving hands. With those same hands you allowed yourself to be nailed to the cross for my sins. We give you thanks and praise for your great gifts of love. In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret