IN INDELIBLE INK

Indelible: (of pen or ink) making marks that cannot be removed.

How is God able to encounter sooooo many people at the same time? I will literally encounter the loving Father while simultaneously, someone across the street encounters the just Judge who avenges his people. In the same breath, someone else will encounter the Potter, moulding them with just one Word. In all this, He is also writing books about children who have not been formed in their mothers’ wombs.

What a God.

Anyway.

If it was not for the universality of God’s love and the instruction to imitate this standard, I would restrict today’s blog to readers who watched Friends. 🌚 But I am only a mouth piece so this choice is really not mine to make. 😂

There is an episode where a young, beautiful lady, Rachel (who, might I add, is my personal favourite😌) and Ross, her ‘friend’, are playing all manner of pranks on each other.

In his final prank, Ross paints whiskers across Rachel’s lower face using a marker. Unknown to him though, the marker is permanent so the ink he uses cannot be erased. Our pretty girl had to move around with whiskers on her face from a permanent marker.

Rachel was livid (and rightfully so🙄). In order to make amends, Ross lets Rachel paint his face with the same permanent ink.

As I mulled over the Father’s love for us revealed through Isaiah’s 49th chapter, this episode came to mind.

One of my favourite preachers once mentioned that God’s most profound revelations are found in the seemingly simple statements.

‘You are my child.’

‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’

‘I am with you.’

‘I have called you by name.’

It honestly all sounds so beautiful until you actually have to walk in its truth and believe that in the face of whatever may be thrown at me, God is actually with me.

That even in the face of a hard No from Him, He is good enough to know that what you wanted (or whom really🌚) so badly was not as perfect for you as you imagined.

That in the face of the strongest sorcery, He is actually for us and is shielding us from all of that.

That I am His child, and He promises that all I have to do is ask and He would make the nations my heritage.

I for one most certainly still grapple with these truths.

But for today, I raise you one particular truth:

‘Your name is engraved on the palms of my hands’

I am struck by this simple truth. 😹 What? Can I see how large these palms are?  What intentionality?

Now if you are anything like me, you know how often your palm will be within your line of vision every waking moment. I am not quite sure how much I can take if I had to deal with seeing a name engraved on my hand for the rest of my life. The thought is nothing short of unsettling.

But that is what makes me different from the divine, eternally loving King. Even this simple revelation is a reminder that God is love. His expression of love in such a bold and intense way is…wow.

Much like Rachel’s -unerasable- whiskers, He lets us know that our names are constantly within His line of vision and with that, we are naturally always on His mind.

What depth?

He gazes lovingly at your name. (Longingly if you are not in intimate relationship with Him.) Every time He moves, His gaze is on our names and the story tagged to it.

This also rings true despite how unfaithful we are. Our names are not erased simply because we have fallen short.

What intentionality?

His Word tells me as well that He holds my lot. (My destiny/future) This makes me quite giddy on the inside😂 because who better to hold my lot than the One who is so consumed with love for me?

This revelation also makes me wonder whether/how, like Ross, we might be willing to have his name engraved on our own faces too…

Tonight, if anything, I pray that His Spirit expands our capacity to accept and believe this simple truth that He reveals to us in His Word.

That we would walk in the full confidence that He is so mindful of us that He writes our names on the palm of His hand.

IN INDELIBLE INK. ♥️

Side note: I am tempted to mention the person that sparked this line of thought, but they will not let me hear the end of it if I do. So, no I will not mention your name. But thank you please. 😂