I Have Engraved You on My Palms

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. (Isaiah 49:16)

Faithful Father,

Impress on these children the value you ascribe to them. You do not wait passively for them, but you pursue them. You can no more give up on them than could a man cut off his hand and discard it.  Yes, if a hand is diseased beyond repair, we would be willing to do that. But with you, all spiritual disease is curable unless the hand does not wish to be cured.

When we read Isaiah, the allusion to the carving of Jesus's palms with the nails of the cross is inescapable. I think your words to Isaiah were meant, with the hindsight of the cross, to bring that to our minds. Help these children to understand the lengths to which you went to engrave their names on your palms. Help them to feel how deep that love runs. By that may the be secure in the knowledge that you will never abandon them nor will you give up hope in them. Help them to know that you will go to any effort to pursue them the rest of their lives.

Jesus, show them your nail scarred hands. Scars that carry their names and show that you know them personally and died form them personally.

Amen