Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

So, how is the day going for you? What was on your mind as you woke up this morning? Did you wake with some concerns, a bit of expectancy, a bit of uncertainty? Maybe you had some excitement about some plans that were about to unfold, or some doubt about something coming up later in the week and how it may unfold?

Whatever it was, here’s what you and I need to remember, and believe. Jesus knows how we feel. He lived among as a man. He understands where we are and what we’re going through.

He knows where you are right now and He knows what occupies your thoughts. He knows your hopes and dreams, your concerns and fears. He knows the burdens you are carrying. He knows that you are often not understood. He knows the expectations that others have of you, which pull incessantly and often mercilessly at you.

He knows how you are feeling right now, and somehow He wants to make sure that you know that you are precious to Him. So precious that He became like you and me over two thousand years ago, with the hope that we would come to Him, always.

When we struggle, He listens. When we question and doubt and call out to Him, He hears us. When we’re in pain—He feels it. He has been there, too.

And like this little boy in this story, in whatever you or I are in the midst of, He holds us in his heart with love and understanding.

It’s a story about a storeowner who was tacking a sign on the window of his pet store that read “Puppies for Sale.” Now signs like that have a way of attracting small children, and sure enough, a young boy soon appeared in the store and at the storeowner’s side.

“How much are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked the storeowner.

The store owner explained, “Well, these are very good dogs, and I don’t expect to sell any of them for less than $35.00.”

The little boy reached into his pocket, pulled out some change, and a crinkled dollar bill, quickly counted it all, and said,

“I have $2.37. Can I at least look at them?”

The store owner smiled and whistled toward the back of the store and the kennel area where the dogs were sheltered. In a moment, out of the kennel came “Lady”, running down the aisle, followed by four little tiny balls of fluffy fur, one of which was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the young boy singled out the limping, lagging puppy and inquired,

“What’s wrong with that one?”

The storeowner explained that he had taken that puppy to the veterinarian again, and that the vet had said the puppy did not have a hip socket and would always be lame.

In reply, the boy pointed at that limping puppy again and said,

“That’s the puppy I want. I’ll give you this money now and then fifty cents a month until I get him paid for. Will that be okay?”

The store owner countered to the little boy, “Well son, that would be fine, but you really don’t want that puppy. He’ll never be able to run, jump and play with you like the other little dogs.”

In response, the little boy rolled up his right pant leg and revealed a badly twisted, crippled leg, supported by two steel braces.

“Well, sir,” he confessed, “I don’t run so well myself, and he’ll need someone who understands.”

He understood. Jesus understands.

So take that truth with you for the rest of today and every day into the rest of your life. No matter what you’re facing or feeling—now, today, tonight, tomorrow, whenever, Jesus is already there, already knows what it is, and He understands what you are dealing with.

And He will go with you as you deal with it, always.

He understands. He is there. Never forget.

In His Name—Scott