Daily Thoughts about God

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10

In Hebrew and Greek, each personal name communicated something indispensable for distinguishing that person’s character and personality. Names were so important that when the person’s character changed, the person’s name changed, like Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul. Their new name corresponded to their new nature and the purposes of God in their life.

The many names of God present some aspect of His inexhaustible, awesome glory. God made a big deal of making His name known to Israel, and Jesus said that making the Father’s name known was one of His continuing functions, so that we will love Him more and receive His abiding presence (John 17:26). Knowing the names of God causes us to know the riches we have in Him, and we rejoice His heart when we know Him.

God intends for us to see Him through His names. There are 37 names and 120 ways and attributes of God in Revelation. Can you find the 61 names or titles and 300 attributes of God in Psalms? How about the 64 names and titles of God and 150 attributes in Isaiah? Knowing the names of God leads me to know the riches we have in Him. What we call God says a lot about our relationship with Him. As we pray, do we call Him Lord? Abba-Father? King?

For every need and circumstance you are facing there is a name of God to meet that need. Focus your attention on the overcoming God of the universe, rather than on your problem or need. Worship God in any way that is meaningful to you, as His Spirit leads you. Make it your ambition to glorify God and enjoy Him in his many names. The King of kings wants you to personally know Him in all His fullness. Think of it! You are privileged to walk with the Lord of hosts. Think of it! The Living Water invites you to drink deeply of Him. The Bread of Life invites you to feast upon His Word.

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Parents, we can’t protect children from every threat in life, but we can take them to the Source of life. We can entrust our kids to Christ. Even then, however, our shoreline appeals may be followed by a difficult choice.

As Jairus and Jesus were going to Jairus’s home, “a messenger arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. He told him, ‘Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.’ But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed’ ” (Luke 8:49–50 NLT).

Jairus was whipsawed between the contrasting messages. The first, from the servants: “Your daughter is dead.” The second, from Jesus: “Don’t be afraid.” Horror called from one side. Hope compelled from the other. Tragedy, then trust. Jairus heard two voices and had to choose which one he would heed.

Don’t we all?

The hard reality of parenting reads something like this: you can do your best and still stand where Jairus stood. You can protect, pray, and keep all the bogeymen at bay and still find yourself in an ER at midnight or a drug rehab clinic on visitors’ Sunday, choosing between two voices: despair and belief. Jairus could have chosen despair. Who would
have faulted him for deciding “Enough is enough”? He had no guarantee that Jesus could help. His daughter was dead. Jairus could have walked away. As parents, we’re so glad he didn’t.

Some of you find the story of Jairus difficult to hear. You prayed the same prayer he did, yet you found yourself in a cemetery facing every parent’s darkest night: the death of your child. No pain compares. What hope does the story of Jairus offer to you? Jesus resurrected Jairus’s child. Why didn’t he save yours?

God understands your question. He buried a child too. He hates death more than you do. That’s why he killed it. He “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light” (2 Timothy 1:10). For those who trust God, death is nothing more than a transition to heaven. Your child may not be in your arms, but your child is safely in his.

Others of you have been standing for a long time where Jairus stood. You’ve long since left the water’s edge of offered prayer but haven’t yet arrived at the household of answered prayer. You’ve wept a monsoon of tears for your child, enough to summon the attention of every angel and their neighbor to your cause. At times you’ve felt that a breakthrough was nearing, that Christ was following you to your house. But you’re not so sure anymore. You find yourself alone on the path, wondering if Christ has forgotten you and your child.

He hasn’t. He never dismisses a parent’s prayer. Keep giving your child to God, and in the right time and the right way, God will give your child back to you.

by Max Lucado