GOD KNOWS!!!!

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I believe it is fitting that I am writing this blog on Mothers' Day.
 
What is it about mothers that so impacts us that we almost find ourselves lost for words in trying to express to them what we feel about them?

Has it got something to do with the fact that for 9 months they joyfully gave their bodies to be our first home here on planet earth?

If you ponder this thought for just a short while you will begin to tap into what God meant when He said through Jeremiah "I know the thoughts that I think towards you".

In Hebrew, the word translated know is the word yada' which is an umbrella word with multiple meanings covering a statement such as 'I know how to tie my shoelaces' to  describing the sexual intimacy between a husband and wife. So, the meaning is determined by the context in which the word is used.

God makes the following amazing statement to Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;  Before you were born I sanctified you;  I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” 


Again, God uses the word yada' to effectively say to Jeremiah: 'You know what? My intimacy with you trumps the intimacy you shared with your mother in her womb!!!'.

It is here that we find the bedrock of God's thoughts toward us. He knows us even better than our mothers do.

As parents we do not always act towards our children with "perfect knowledge', we do make mistakes. But not so with God.

I'm pretty sure no one who read my last blog "God, What Were You Thinking?" found it comfortable to realise that God orchestrated the destruction of the house of Israel in order to separate them from idolatry. So, here is the good news; God did that with perfect knowledge, in fact He did that with intimate knowledge in respect to each and every person affected.

There is another interesting fact in Hebrew that can help us come to terms with what we are discussing here.

You see, in Hebrew it is never about the individual. The individual is just one link in the chain that runs from them all the way back to Eve and from them all the way forward to the very last of their descendants ever born here on earth.

What God did in Jeremiah's day, in destroying the house of Israel to separate them from idolatry, would prove to be a redemptive act on behalf of every generation in Israel that followed.

So, if your life is anything like mine, you may feel like your house is being torn down at the moment. Be assured that God is orchestrating your circumstances out of His intimate knowledge and great love for you. You never know, what you are going through at the moment could prove to be the redemption that will benefit your children and your grandchildren and your great grandchildren and your great, great grandchildren, .....................................