Jeremiah 1:5 ESV
Psalm 90:4 ESV
2 Peter 3:8 ESV
I understand the thought that God knew us even before we are born. I have prayed for many mothers and babies from the time the baby was growing in the womb. It’s remarkable to me that God gives each individual life qualities that are very unique.
My daughter is my oldest child. She is soft but strong. She is very funny. The man she married was her best friend for years before they were engaged. God gave her everything she needed when she was being formed.
My three sons are all unique. If you lined them up you’d hardly guess they are brothers. One is red headed. Another has dark brown hair and the other has light brown hair and coloring. They are all strong and they all married strong very intelligent women. They were smart. While they have similarities, their personalities are vastly different.
Because they knew their sister’s husband for years before they married, he’s like a big brother to them. But growing up they didn’t know he would be their brother. Hummm…but God knew.
God created each child for His unique purpose.
So while I understand that as God forms each child, it’s a bit unfathomable that God intricately knows them before they were formed in the womb. At least, that’s the way it seems until I remember that God is omnitemporal. While God created time, God is not limited by time.
While we can think back and remember and we can be present in time, man cannot move into the future (well, except in movies). While that may not always be the case with man, we are currently unable to move about the universe in the future.
In Jeremiah 1:5 we learn that God is and has always been able to BE in the future, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Even before Jeremiah was in the womb, God saw him.
God knew him.
God had a plan for him.
In that sense, we are no different to God.
Before we were formed in the womb, God saw us and knew us.
In my mind that’s mind-blowing because of the millions and millions of people who have been and will be born, God has and will know them all. That means that God already knows my great great great grandchildren and has a plan for them.
Only God can do that.
I’ve been a fan of the writings of C.S. Lewis for several years. When I first read The Chronicles of Narnia I was fascinated by Lewis’ belief in the Omnitemporal concept of time. The books were first published in 1950 before I was born. I read them 25 years later and my concept of God’s timing changed. My concept of the power and character of God changed.
More than that, my prayer life changed. I began to realize the completeness of the power of God. I knew there is no place where God cannot BE. God sees my children’s children’s children’s children before they are formed.
Moses knew that when he wrote in Psalm 90:4: “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”
In 2 Peter 3:8 we find, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
God can see everything all at once. I learned the hard way that if I would stop and pray before I start a new venture, I can rely on God to see the road ahead. That doesn’t mean we won’t be hurt, but it does mean we can ask God to protect us when possible and prepare us for what lies ahead.
Oh what a difference it can make!
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: Ask God
Ask God to prepare you for the road ahead.
In God, Deborah
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