I really love this photograph, by maternity photographer Hannah Spencer. It seems fitting on New Years Eve to post a picture of a new baby, and all the hope this child represents.
Sometimes New Years Eve can be a lonely night, filled with self reflection, and perhaps feelings of loss. Of wondering where God is. Or if He even cares? Yet the Bible references even babies in the womb as being part of God's plan, and on His mind. In Jeremiah 1:5, God tells Jeremiah,
Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations--
that's what I had in mind for you.
In fact, sometimes God even told the parents the child's name before the baby was even conceived!
- Abraham and Sarah (Genesis17:19)
-the prophet Isaiah and his wife (Isaiah 8:4)
-Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:13)
- Mary and Joseph (Luke 1:31), (Matthew 1:21)
Other times, God not only named children from the far off future, he said what their role would be. The prophet Isaiah prophecied about the Messiah Immanuel (400 years in the future) in Isaiah 7:14, and about King Cyrus the Great, in Isaiah 44:28,
Who says of Cyrus, "He is my
Shepherd
he will say of Jerusalem,
"Let it be rebuilt,"
and of the temple,
"Let its foundations be laid."
Isaiah ministered between 740 and 686 BC. Cyrus was born in 600 BC, roughly 100 years later. And God said to him in Isaiah 45:4,
For the sake of Jacob my servant,
of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name and bestow
on you a title of honor, though
you do not acknowledge me.
Friends, I submit to you that EVERY child is known and loved by God, even babies in the womb. And that God has given us as parents, the PRIVILEGE of raising these little ones. These little ones God already has plans for. Embrace it!
And those who are not parents? You matter too! God knows your name, where you are, and what you are mixed up in.
Why would you ever complain,
O Jacob, or whine, Israel, saying
"GOD has lost track of me. He
doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything?
Haven't you been listening?
GOD doesn't come and go.
God LASTS.
He's Creater of all
you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out,
doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows EVERYTHING,
inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire
and drop out,
young folk in their prime
stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon GOD
get fresh strength.
They spread their wings
and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.
-Isaiah 40:27-31, The Message
New Year. New chance to start fresh with God.
Happy New Year.
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