Yesterday Jeff and I jumped into the Christmas celebration! We went to a tree farm down in “the country land” and cut down our first tree! (Well, Jeff cut it down- I just stood by, took photos and cheered him on.) It was a blast! Hot cocoa, foggy day, rain boots, jackets, candy canes, Christmas Pandora Station.
When we got home we went to work decorating our beauty of a tree. Since we don’t have tons of ornaments yet, we decided to make some of them this year by writing out names of God on tags.
As I was sitting there with Jeff scribbling out the names of God, there were some tags that I wanted to press up to my heart because some of those names of God were made known to me during special seasons of my life. For instance, the summer after I broke up with Jeff, I went through a season of really doubting God. I thought I was going to marry him (which, I did eventually!), and had so longed to be married.
Why wasn’t this the guy? How could God let me fall for him, and then tell me to call things off? Did God really know my heart? Did He really know what’s best for me?
I had been reading Genesis that summer, and I remember one morning studying about Hagar. Abraham had slept with her, following his wife’s urging since she could not get pregnant. Then when they found out Hagar was pregnant, Sarai (Abraham’s wife) got furious, so Hagar fled. Here was Hagar, all alone, pregnant with child. And God met her there. God “listened to her affliction” (Gen. 16:11). In that very place, Hagar proclaims, “You are a God of seeing”.
Now, my circumstance was nothing like Hagar’s. But I remember God whispering to me, “Alyssa, I am a God who sees you. I know you. I know your every desire. Your every longing. Your every hurt. And I know what’s best for you. You are not alone in this. I am with you. I see you. I know you.”
God is a God who sees.
And that’s just one tag! One name of God. One truth of God. How many more there are!
Our God is:
The Holy One of Israel
Keeper
Redeemer
Comforter
Counselor
Prince of Peace
Mighty God
Father, Abba
Living Water
Adonai
Savior
Strong Tower
Righteous God
King of kings
Lord of lords
What names of God are special to you? What parts of His character has He made known to you in specific moments of your life?
My God is my light. He brings to light my successes and failures to honor him. With his light he also guides me to where he wants me to be. And when I feel alone and when I feel shame, he is the one who brings light into my cold dark heart. I am an artist and I have struggled with pride and selfishness. But i have to remind myself all the time that the gifts that I have are from God. I ma not the light he is letting me hold his flashlight. I have received so many blessings that I never could have even conceived in my mind. God has used his light to consistently show me that painting is what he wants me to do and I have a big beautiful art studio for FREE and that is only because of God. All I want to do is make sure that I am making art for His glory and not my own because with his light he gives me the warmth of grace, and love.
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