Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands;
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.

There are several things worthy of our attention and meditation in this verse. The first is of minor significance to most people, but of major interest to me, and that is the reference to islands. Several translations render that as “coastlands,” but the Japanese naturally uses “islands,” since this is an island nation. Isaiah’s repeated use of this terminology is one of the many reasons I like the book so much! Of much more significance to Americans is the statement that God’s purposes and calling are active even in the womb. This totally destroys any moral justification for abortion. Whereas this chapter is obviously talking about the Messiah, the principle is still valid that God’s plans for us don’t start when we start breathing air. Right now in America alone, over a million babies a year are aborted. We will never know what plans God had for them, what artists and musicians and doctors and inventors and good, loving people never got the chance to fulfill God’s plans for them. The incredible selfishness and short-sighted disregard for our Creator that are expressed in the act of deliberate abortion are staggering. We should rejoice that God actually cares about each one of us, that He doesn’t overlook anyone, even from the womb. This is one of the biggest demonstrations of God’s omnipotence and omniscience, because we can’t conceive of not only such knowledge, but active concern. We should be glad that God really is God! With that awareness, the logical course of action is to seek to discover and follow the plans He has for us, because only He knows the end from the beginning, and His plans are always good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

This is something I think about from time to time. I often say that I know God has a sense of humor, because He made me! Like everyone else, I have a unique combination of genetics and experiences that have molded me into what I am, and the verdict is still out as to what I will be eventually, on the earthly scale. I do know that my ultimate destination is eternity with my Lord, so I have great peace on that front, but I don’t want to miss anything God has planned along the way. Today I will be doing hospital visitation for the first time in several years, since hospitals put in severe rules about such things with the Covid pandemic. That frankly is exciting! The person in question isn’t someone I’ve met before, but his wife and daughter visited the church because of his hospitalization, and he has asked to meet me. I am honored, and I look forward to whatever God wants to do with this occasion. Before that, I’ll be seeing a man who has been on the brink of commitment to Christ for a while now, and today might be the day when he makes that step. That prospect is exciting indeed! Like everyone else, God planned for me from the moment of fertilization, or even before, and I want to fulfill every one of those plans, for His glory.

Father, thank You for Your plans, for me and for the whole world. May Your name be acknowledged as holy and Your rule and reign be established as Your will is done, right here and throughout the earth, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!