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February 27, 2019

365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 89: God Who Acts On Our Behalf


God Who Acts On Our Behalf

"Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him." (Isaiah 64:4 NIV) 

Our family was eating dinner together one night a couple years ago, and my husband and I were discussing a subject whose "back story" was unfamiliar to our daughters but familiar to my husband and me. I had just made some comment on the topic, and my husband replied with, "Did you ever--," at which point I (gently) interrupted and said, "No." To which he replied, with complete understanding and satisfaction, "Oh." One of our daughters looked at him and asked, "Did mom answer the question you were asking?" He told her "yes" without hesitation. Which I already knew, because: 1)married a long time; and 2)context.


We need some context to fully appreciate the magnitude of today's name of God. The culture to which the prophet Isaiah would have been making his superlative declaration was polytheistic: lots of worship of little-"g" gods. The idea of one, true, real, big-"G" God who actually acted on behalf of people who trusted in Him was so radical, so revolutionary that no one had ever heard or seen anything like it.

In fact, the very concept of The Great I AM is so radical and revolutionary that only God could have come up with it. Oh, do you see it? Only God could have come up with the idea of Himself. 

This is probably a good place to emphasize, though, that God did not invent Himself. He is the Creator, but He is uncreated. The I AM always has been. And if this is something we just can't quite wrap our human minds around, that is a very good thing indeed, because don't we need a God bigger than our biggest thoughts?

A few days ago, I suggested that you might want to insert your name into one of our daily Scriptures to personalize it. I don't want to employ this tool so much that it becomes dull from overuse, but today's verse seems ripe for that application. Fill in the blank with your name, beloved of the Lord, and then wait to see what sort of acts our incomparable God will do on your behalf.

"From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened to, no eye has seen any God except You, who acts on behalf of ____________ who waits for Him" (Isaiah 64:4 CSB).

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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!