Back Print Page Email Page

He Knows My Name Murphy Toerner

Recently I spoke at a women't retreat and one of the songs we sang during the worship time was, "He Knows My Name." 

It is a simply, yet poignant song that reminds us that we have a "Maker" who knows our name and we have a "Father" who calls us His own.  God will never leave us.  He will never forsake us.  He knows exactly where we are every moment of every day.  We are never lost.  We are never rejected. 

Even though there are times when we want to hide from God, we can't truly hide because He knows exactly:

• where we are on our journey
• who we are at this juncture in time
• who we can become; our potential
• how long all of this is going to take and that we are not running behind 

God knows us in the same way a loving mother knows her infant child.  When a mother looks at her child, she has a deep appreciation for each finger and toe.  She loves looking into the beautiful eyes of her baby.  She loves it when her baby laughs and smiles in return.  

God is our heavenly Father, but He also has a lot of "motherly" characteristics.  He is very much the Parent who wants to gather his children "like a hen gathers her chicks." 

Someone recently shared with me the meaning of this particular imagery.  It is not uncommon for a barnyard hen to gather her chicks under her wings in times of danger.  If there is a predator she will gather her chicks under her wings to hide them from the prowler.  If there is a grass fire sweeping across the field, the hen will  again gather her chicks under her wings.   Ultimately what this means is the hen is willing to give up her life for her babies.  She will willingly suffocate from smoke inhalation while the chicks survive by burying their beaks into her breast feathers, thus filtering out the smoke. 

God is the Father who willingly allowed His one and only Son, Jesus to die in our place.  Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  He is the one who tells Jerusalem that He wanted to gather her under his wings into order to protect her from those who would destroy her, but ... in her stubborness, she would not allow Him to love her in this way. 

Take some time to think of a barnyard hen dying to save her babies.  Take some time to think of Jesus dying to save you.  Once you sense the cost of that one act of supreme love, try to live your life in a manner worthy of your calling today.