God Knows Us By Our Names
“He counts the stars and calls them all by name.” – Psalm 147:4
I read chapter 147 of Psalm today for my devotion and verse 4 spoke to me. If God knows the number of the stars and if each star has a name, He definitely knows each and every one of us. I suddenly thought of the old woman that sells candies and cigarettes on the side of the street two blocks from where I live, unmindful of the pollution and the heat of the sun at midday.
I remembered the man I saw lying on the curbside half-naked on my way to work. I stared at him long enough to check if he was still breathing and was relieved to know he still was (I saw his diaphragm rise and fall). He seemed to be sleeping. He probably passed out from drunkenness. Other people just passed by him. I remembered the cuckoo man who sleeps on the street at night near here. I remembered the taxi drivers who drove me to work.
Faces of people I see every day crossed my mind and I uttered under my breath, God knows them. He is God. He created all of us. He created me. He breathed life into me. He allowed me to wake up this morning. He allowed me to read His Word and ponder on it. Many times I wonder why God takes notice of me, why He loves me.
I recently attended a retreat in our church. The facilitator asked all of us at the table if it makes sense to us that God loves us. I answered, “To be honest, it doesn’t make sense to me”. It’s true. It really doesn’t make sense to me that God—the God who created the universe—takes notice of me and loves me. It doesn’t make sense to me but I’m grateful because I am loved.
God knows us. He knows us by our names! It says in Luke 12:7, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” He even told Jeremiah that He knew him before He formed the prophet in his mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5). It amazes me that despite the number of the people in the world, no one slips His mind. He knows us and our struggles, our complaints, our desires… He sees us. He sees our smiles and our tears… ❤️
