They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. Isaiah 49:10
“Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are—weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic. But this is not the God of the Bible! Our personal life is a finite thing: it is limited in every direction, in space, in time, in knowledge, in power. But God is not so limited. He is eternal, infinite, and almighty. He has us in His hands; we never have Him in ours. Like us, He is personal; but unlike us, He is great. In all its constant stress on the reality of God’s personal concern for His people, and on the gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, patience, and yearning compassion that He shows toward them, the Bible never lets us lose sight of His majesty and His unlimited dominion over all His creatures.”
J. I. Packer in Knowing God (Downers Grove: IVP, 1973) 83.
We serve a personal God who is great! Personally, I am thankful for His gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, patience, and yearning compassion toward our family, and recently to both our son and our daughter.
Sammy was married in October to Emily. She’s been praying for a job and I learned upon returning home from my travels that God has heard that prayer. She will work at the church where our son works.
What personal and great provision!
Also, I feel God’s personal and great hand on my family this weekend. Our daughter Sophie Victoria Hoag will marry Peter Joseph Gomez on Monday. Relatives and friends will celebrate with us.
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And, with Peter I have been praying for a job for months. God has heard our prayers and his new job will start the day after their honeymoon. Some call it coincidence. I celebrate God’s personal concern for His people.
God, thanks for being both personal and great! Lead, guide, and provide for Sammy and Emily and Sophie and Peter all the days of their lives. Keep looking after Jenni and me too, I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.