my search to understand the bigger picture


Wednesday, August 31, 2011

New Insights Keep Coming

This was an excerpt from something I journaled yesterday morning, and I thought I'd share part of with you today.

"I had some interesting new thoughts last night in regards to Isaiah 42:16, which I spent a good hour or so blogging about. I still want to continue memorizing that passage, but this morning I'm finding my attention being drawn to another favorite passage, Isaiah 43:1-4.

"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 a dead end---
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you."

I love the sentiment of what it appears God is trying to convey. For a long time I took it as a comfort when times were really rough. And it surely does work for that. But this morning, as I look at it and read it over and over, my eyes are opened to a slightly different perspective. God is reminding the Israelites how much He loves them. He is being proactive in expressing His love to them and for them. How powerful it is to feel that in those in between moments of life. Those times when things aren't good and they aren't bad, they just are. Those moments where life almost seems to be in a lull, or stall pattern. Those are usually the moments when I begin to make small decisions that lead me astray and into trouble. It's really in those times that I need reminders of how God thinks of me, with the hope that it will cause me to re-evaluate choices I'm about to make. I love how God gives some specific examples of His feelings, and then in case we still aren't getting it, He makes it plain as day like at the end of the passage above. We mean everything to God. What a powerful thought. Simple........yet profound. GOD LOVES ME."

I needed this reminder again this morning. God does indeed love me. He paid a dear price for me! He gave everything for ME! What greater love is there. Thank you Jesus, for your love for me. There is no greater gift.

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