I want to share a sweet little story with you today. As usual, God speaks to me through every day events, this event was one like that.
My daughter, Breanne, loves animals and is forever rescuing animals. If a turtle is in the middle of the road, she always stops and takes it to the other side to make sure it gets there safely. If she sees a stray dog or cat, she usually picks them up and finds their owner or finds them a good home – it is just in her nature to do this sort of thing. This heart for animals she has passed down to Bryson, he is just like his mom when it comes to animals.
One day last week, we were driving to my house and a little dog ran in the middle of the road and we almost hit it. Of course, Breanne stopped, turned around and went back to see where the dog belonged.
It had on a collar of some sort but no name tag. I knew in an instant, this dog was going with us…at least for a while.
She loaded the dog up and dropped me off at home. Then she and Bryson went to go door to door to find its home. They did not find it’s home, so back they all came. The little dog was nervous and timid and shaking. Breanne took it to the vet to see if it had a chip in it to locate it’s owner – it did not. So the little dog, with no name, spent the night with Breanne and her family. In the meantime she put up flyers, to let people in this area know she had found a dog, in hopes the owner would be looking for it.
The following day Breanne received a phone call from an elderly lady calling about her lost dog. She described the dog and the collar and Breanne made arrangements to return the dog. During the conversation with the owner Breanne asked the dogs name. It was Scrappy.
We went to Breanne’s house to retrieve the little dog. When it got in the car it was shaking and very nervous. I told Breanne that it surely wanted to go home and was very scared. Then something amazing happened….I was watching Breanne talk to the dog, she was trying to calm it down and it just continued to shake and tremble…then Breanne called it by name…she said ‘are you ready to go home Scrappy?’ That dog had the funniest look on its face when it realized she knew her name. She stopped shaking and just looked at Breanne like ‘YOU KNOW ME!’ It was an amazing sight. She knew her name – then she must know her, suddenly she felt safe!
Immediately a scripture popped in my mind. It is found in Isaiah 49:15-16; “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”
God knows YOUR name – He KNOWS you personally. He has inscribed your name on the palm of his hands, you are always that close to him. Isn’t that wonderful! Isn’t that enough reason to feel safe in his hands! I think so!
I don’t know where you find yourself today. Perhaps you feel lost or alone or far from home and you’re not sure how to find your way back. If that is where you are, remember, he knows your name. He is close to you.
The part of this scripture that says ‘your walls are continually before me’ means that you and he are joined together, continually. He will never leave you nor forsake you. If you feel lost, ask him to get you back on track. If you need direction, ask him, he will give it to you. He knows you.
Today I am going to leave you with a passage of scriptures from Psalm 139. Meditate on these scriptures and remind yourself of how intimately your God knows you.
“For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.”
