Morning Devotional

December 7, 2003

"Meanderings of My Mind" 

by Don Emmitte

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This morning I began to let my mind wander a bit. While it has been just a few days since Faith and Logan were born, my thoughts have been filled with the new lessons God is teaching through them. I have always been able to learn best through my children. Now it seems God will be able to use my grandchildren as well! The following are just a few of the meanderings of my mind this morning. Perhaps they will speak to you as they did me.

“Faith Michelle” is a name full of meaning. Obviously her first name simply means “faith.” It is from the English word and was one of the virtue names favored by the Puritans. Michelle, on the other hand, is the French feminine form of Michael and means “like the Lord.” So much has been written and spoken about the character of faith and our lives as children of God. V. Raymond Edman expresses it well in the following verse:

Faith is dead to doubts—
dumb to discouragements,
blind to impossibilities,
knows nothing but success.

Faith lifts its hand up through
the threatening clouds,
lays hold of Him who has
all power in heaven and on earth.

Faith makes the uplook good,
the outlook bright,
the inlook favorable,
and the future glorious.

“Logan Allen” is also a name full of meaning. Logan is from a surname, which was originally derived from a Scottish place name meaning “little hollow” in Scottish Gaelic. And Allen means “handsome.” None of you who know me would have any problem believing that I think Logan is “handsome.” After all, he is my grandson! But, his first name began to take me along a different thought path. The prophet Isaiah recalls the greatness of our Savior in the following verses: 

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (Isaiah 40:1-12 KJV).  

Wander a bit with me. Faith is the essential element in our relationship with God. Once we exercise faith we are brought into a relationship that guarantees God’s protection. He holds us “in the hollow of His hand.” The two are inseparable, just as twins at birth! Sometimes I have forgotten that truth in my life. I have called out to the Lord for His protection and forgotten that it merely requires my faith in Him! His strength and beauty are available to me simply by believing in His word!