05/01/2024
Our lives and troubles in life are as varied between us as the variety of snowflakes during a winter snow, and yet The Lord is able to deal with us all uniquely. In our lives we find that the troubles and trials which any individual faces are as varied as the DNA that sets the pattern for their physical bodies. Yet, despite this incredible diversity The Holy Spirit is able to lead each of us to Jesus Christ, and through Him to God, where He loves us the same, even while interacting with us in a personally unique way.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Romans 8:35 KJV
This verse comforts us in the ability and faithfulness of Jesus, but I sought further and asked... what of God our Father? Well, two verses further along gave me that answer...
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39 KJV
In our most desperate moments and greatest personal suffering, we can't be separated from Jesus and through Him, from God. There is no trial that is beyond His ability to address, and no spiritual groaning that He is unable to comfort. In God and His love all is possible and therein rests all of our hope.
AS I read my devotional this morning, E.M. Bounds ended it with this thought... "He deals with every child individually, according to his or her specific situation." I find Bound’s observation to be true, and incredible. This is indeed an amazing truth and is made necessary by the sheer variety He has instilled in creation. His hand is still inspiring that creation today.
Think of who you are in this way… From the very moment of creation, God has been combining the DNA of two people, then two people, then two people, and so on and so on and so on, until each of us were born. We call these people our grandparents, and ancestors. Throughout the generations He has repeatedly been weaving two sets of DNA together to form the tapestry of who we are individually today, and this process continues on in our children, and will quite possibly continue on for a multitude of generations to come as we wait on the return of Jesus Christ our Lord… we are a family of offspring each from the same distant roots, each bearing similar characteristics as those in the past, and yet quite different from one another in our current construction.
In April of 2016 I read an article detailing a new finding... At the moment of conception when a sperm fertilizes an egg there is a flash of light. Scientists are calling this the "zinc spark". However, to my spiritual eye this is God's hand at work in his creation. Michael Angelo seemed to see it as well when he painted "The Creation of Adam."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam
So we are all unique in body, and in the troubles and challenges we face during our lives. Yet, in all of this enormous variety our God is sufficient to meet our needs, and His presence is with us from the moment of our conception on. We can't be separated from Him nor can we present a challenge or need that He can't meet. Have you ever heard a child say to a parent “You don’t know what I am going through!” well we smile knowing that this isn’t true, and God smiles too… He knows every hair on our head, and every hair on every head of each of the individuals we call our grandparents all the way back to the very first spark of an egg being fertilized by a sperm when man was first formed.
Today as we pray, let's do so with absolute confidence that our God loves us and is capable of meeting our every need... Solving every problem... Soothing every suffering. Despite the unique snowflake that we are, He finds every one of us beautiful and loves us beyond our ability to describe or understand. His breath is in us and His spark of light establishes each of us, and is the signature that identifies us as His creation.,, His child.
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
1 John 1:5 KJV
Discovery of a flash of light at conception: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/04/26/scientists-witness-flash-light-during-conception-say-discovery-could-aid-ivf.html?intcmp=hphz02
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the diversity in my life, and every unique pairing of DNA contained in the eggs and sperm of my ancestors that you have so deliberately brought together, and woven in my mother’s womb of life to make me who I am today. Thank you Father for knowing my heart, and the number of hairs on my head. Thank you Lord for being able to comfort me in my deepest despair, to mend my broken heart, to bless me when I mourn, and to solve every problem in my life that confounds me. Hear me call out to you, as I ask for your help, and thank you for your mercy and grace as you reveal yourself in every answer. The grace you have provided to man is sufficient for me, and I will lean on you always. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who was, and is, and will be, the great creator, and the inspiration of all that is created. You are my strong tower, and safe harbor in every storm. You are able to lift me above every trouble, and to rub the healing balm or your Word over my wounds. You comfort me when I weep, and remake my life when I am broken, Oh Father, how great you are, and although I may fear the dark, your light, the spark of life, remains my strength. Help me to see you in every dark moment as you lead me into the light, and cloak me in the glowing robes of Jesus. Abba, call me your child, and teach me to know and obey your will. Call me worthy in Christ Jesus, and hold me close for all eternity as I believe. Hold me like a snowflake and marvel at what you have made of me.
Rich Forbes