[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 28/Sep/2014]
During the Second World War my mum was travelling by train to Eastbourne to stay with my dad’s family for a few days. He was away in the army at the time and mum was expecting a baby – that was me. As the train arrived at Eastbourne station the town was bombed by the German air force. As bombs started exploding all around, my mum dived for cover under the seat and stayed there until the bombing stopped. When she climbed out she found the station badly damaged and the train was leaning against the platform, but at least she was safe and able to stay with the family. I was born a few months later to the south of London and at the time there was also an air raid, but again we were both kept safe and thankfully I am here today.
I was reminded of how by grace I survived the bombs, even when I was an unborn baby, as I read these words to a friend a few days ago. They are from the psalm that Katy Prior encouraged us to read in “Yours” last week.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. (Symbolically “the womb”)
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139: 13 – 16 ESV.
King David, when he wrote that psalm, was saying that God could see the future. He knew and loved David before he was born and what was going to happen during his life. As a result he humbly realised that the knowledge of God was too wonderful for him, and us, to understand. Other writers in the Bible knew the same truth. Jeremiah was told by God, “Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work.” Jeremiah 1:5 NCV and Paul too in one of his letters said, “God had special plans for me and set me apart for his work even before I was born.” Galatians 1:15 NCV.
That same principle is true for each one of us. God knew us and loved us before our birth. He even knew beforehand the time when we would come to believe that Jesus is our Saviour God, and what we would do for him in our lives to help bring about his will on earth. I find that is a great encouragement to me and I hope to you. God in his love will not let anything happen to us that stops us fulfilling the plans he has for our lives. That’s why the bombs didn’t bring my life to an end when I was still in the womb. It’s also why we can trust him for the future, even beyond the end of time itself. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV. We may not know his future plans for us now, but we will. As David said in his psalm, God has already written them in his book.
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Contributed by Michael Goble; © the Author
