I am the Alpha and Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
–Revelation 1:8 NIV
Today as I write this reflection, 353,000 babies are going to be born. For many of those babies, parents are waiting in hopeful anticipation of a life filled with purpose and meaning. That newborn baby, even while kicking and screaming, represents their hopes and dreams of what the world will be. When our latest grandson was born, I held him with such a mixture of awe, wonder, and even a bit of fear of what the world has in store for him. He is clueless of the turmoil that proceeded his birth, the economic and political unrest he entered into, or even the viruses floating through the air around him. He just cooed, grasped my finger, and won my heart.
God sees each of those babies. He knit each of those little ones together and knew them by name before the foundation of the earth. He welcomes them, walks with them, and invites them to be known and to know.
On the other end of the spectrum, more than 150,000 people will die today, the numbers drastically increased by the COVID pandemic. Some lived full and meaningful lives; some ended seemingly too soon. Whether alone in a hospital room or instantaneously, there will be tears, sadness, and a loss of what could have been. God will be there in those endings as well…not a single sparrow will fall without His knowing.
Then there’s the middle – our daily routines which we may or may not have right now, expectations of others and ourselves, the endless list of jobs and diapers and homework. I love how throughout Scripture, God engaged with His people in the daily-ness of their lives. By the threshing floor, by the well, on the way to Damascus…normal life activities both interrupted and accompanied by the Divine.
The comings and the goings…God in the midst of it all, reminding us that we are never alone. He saw me at my beginning, and He will see me every moment until our eyes meet fully face to face.
ACTION: How do you sense God’s eyes on you today? What kinds of feelings come as you realize He has seen you, He has been with you every moment from before you were born? Perhaps this raises some questions about life and things that have happened to you. Take a minute to acknowledge them, own them, sit with them. Or perhaps you need to wonder if you have the eyes to see the Divine — the Alpha and Omega — in your life? Are you willing to be disrupted in order to hear His voice? How are you connecting to His voice in Scripture or to His movement in your spirit?
The God of all past, present, and future is inviting me to taste and see that He is good.
Prayer: Father, You are God – the Alpha and Omega – my start and my finish. You are my raison d’etre. I can trust you to see me as you did in my mother’s womb, through the daily-ness of my life and to the grave. Thank you that not a moment passes that you are not with me. Thank you that I can never be separated from your love because of Christ’s sacrifice for me. I can smile today. I can even rest because you’re here and you’re near. Amen.
