He Knows…

Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to minister to a few people through the blog who are waiting for a miracle and hoping for it to arrive sooner than later. If you are one who is also spending your days waiting, hoping, and praying, then today’s post is for you.

I was on a roller coaster ride of waiting for 15 years. I took my seat, buckled up and never expected the ride to last as long as it did. When I finally exited the ride, I was a different person altogether. Throughout the process of waiting, life was difficult. I was heartbroken and scarred. I now thank God for those scars.

Though it wasn’t easy to endure hardship, I became a new creature in Christ. I grabbed onto Him for dear life and He changed my life. I was helpless. Yet somehow I learned to find the beauty in my vulnerability. The enemy may have thought that the fire I was walking through would burn me. Instead, those flames lit my way to run straight into the arms of a Savior Who knew my name. When I couldn’t remember who I was anymore, He reminded me. And He not only reminded me of who I was, He reminded me of all I could be.

Exodus 33:14-18

And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” And he said, “Please show me Your glory.”

In this chapter, God has given the command for Moses to leave Sinai. However, the Lord was not happy with the Israelites, calling them a “stiff-necked people.” So, Moses met with God. And Exodus 33:14-18 is part of the conversation they shared.

Every time I read the Lord’s words, “I know you by name” tears well up in my eyes. There is no possible way for me to convey how that statement touches me.

When we don’t know God’s plan, it is easy to feel lost and forgotten. Following Christ’s will for our lives is literally a step-by-step process. If we back up a few verses in Exodus 33 we can read what Moses says to God.

Exodus 33:12

Then Moses said to the Lord, “See You say to me, ‘Bring up, this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’

Moses was trying to figure out the plan. Most of us are not unlike him. Just because God says go, it doesn’t mean the plan will be clear. We have to remember that He knows us by name. He called us, and so therefore, we need to walk blindly in faith. We have to trust God through our trials and tribulations. We have to continue to put our hope in Him. There is no other way to explain it. It may sound cliché and boring, but these three words are our lifeline…

Faith
Hope
Trust

Acts 14:21-22

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

The world we live in does not make it comfortable to be a follower of Christ. No matter what crisis you are facing, big or small, I want you to remember this… He knows you by name. I challenge you to close your eyes and try to even grasp that concept. The Almighty, Creator of ALL things, knows you by name. It’s astonishing.