Graven on the Palm of his Hand
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Isaiah 49:8-11, 14-16
8. Thus says the Lord: "In a time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; 9. saying to the prisoners, `Come forth,' to those who are in darkness, `Appear.' They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10. they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up. 14. But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me." 15. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16. Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Not a typical Thanksgiving devotion, I guess. I have had quite an interesting week, though and I have found myself thinking “outside the box” even more than I do usually! Tuesday night I visited a men’s prison about 45 minutes from my house. It may well have been a life changing -- and faith changing -- experience for me! Several of the men expressed gratitude to God for placing them in prison -- and thus changing their lives. Some of them found Christ behind bars. Some of then had already known Him but had drifted or perhaps run away from Him. I was so convicted! These men had such deep and abiding faith. And they, like Paul in so many of his writings, were grateful for their time in prison. They told us that they missed their families terribly, but that they had become a family to each other. They told us they were grateful to see the error of their ways and were willing to do their time because they would be different people when they were released.
Gratitude in prison. Faith behind bars. They thanked us for coming to see them and for our kindness. They don’t know how much I appreciate their presence on that evening! They showed me true faith. They knew in no uncertain terms that their Lord had not forsaken them! So what do I have to whine about? Well, I could share a rather lengthy list . . . but I won’t! I won’t because God declares to us: “Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me” My name is tattooed on his palm. My name. And yours too. Smack in the middle of his hand. It is a part of him--permanently affixed.
God loves us so much that he will make a way for us in the world. When we rely upon him our lives are so much better. Not that we don’t have problems, even really big problems, but that God will get us through them. Just like he’s there with those eight men we met this week, he is serving their time with them, and they know it! They feel it. And when they testify to their Lord and Savior, you know they know what it means to have the way made smooth and the mountains to be made low. They’ve climbed some pretty high mountains without Christ in their lives. They’ve traversed some rocky roads.
Every one of those men showed up with a bible! That surprised me because our Sunday School class members don’t even do that! But God’s word was important to them. It was vital to them for their survival -- physically and spiritually. On this day after Thanksgiving I hope the sales and the bargains and the great deals pale in comparison to the free gift your God gave you in His Son on the Cross.
My prayer today is for those men, and all those in prisons throughout the world. And that we will allow Jesus to free us from the self-imposed prisons in our lives.
Mary
