God has good plans for your life, and no matter how far you have strayed, no matter how long you have delayed, he has not forgotten his plans for you. Not even for a second has he ever said, “oh, now she’s gone too far, I can’t bring her back.” Never has he looked at your reality and said, “I can’t work with this, it’s just too much.” The thought has never crossed his mind to give up on you. EVER!

He is constantly thinking of you, working for you, and going before you. Wherever you are today, God has already been here. None of this is a surprise or shock to him. He’s moved heaven and earth to have provisions here for you in this place where you find yourself today.

That all sounds good, but do you believe it? Or have you dismissed yourself from God’s love and care? Have the taunting pokes of the enemy convinced you God is busy taking care of other things and you have to handle this on your own? Have the whispered lies of Satan and his demons told you good plans are for good people, and you’re just not that good, so there are no good plans for your future.

I have a scripture for you today that you will never forget. It’s so powerful it could radically change the trajectory of your life if you will receive it. The Lord says to you, his precious daughter in Isaiah 49:16 “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

Reminders of you are on the palms of God’s hands. Now we have the benefit of knowing the New Testament, of knowing the hands which took the nails on a cross for us. The palms that bare the reminder of the sacrifice for you and I. But when God spoke these words to his people, it was nearly 700 years before Jesus. So, what is God telling them?

First, Jesus had already been planned. The plan of sacrifice and forgiveness was already in motion. The way was already being made, even then. God knew exactly what he was doing, remember he is omnipresent, which means he is not limited by time and space as we are. God was there speaking to Zion, he was Jesus hanging on the cross with his nail scarred hands, and he is here speaking to you and I this morning. All places, at all times, limited by nothing. He’s always known the end from the beginning, and when he spoke these words to Zion, he spoke these words to you. “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

This came in response to God’s people questioning if the Lord had forsaken and forgotten them. And he essentially says, “I have tattooed you on my hand, I will never forget.”

In ancient times, a slave would bare the brand mark of his master, but God is turning all of this and saying, “I, your master, bear the mark of YOU on my hand. I am forever reminded of YOU.” This is what he chose. He chose to never, ever be able to forget you.

And not just your name, but YOU. The ALL of you. This means your hopes and your dreams, your struggles and your triumphs, your doubts and your fears, your potential and your promise, it’s all inscribed on the hand of God. Not just your name, your whole being. He knows what you’re going through, he knows what you’re struggling with, he knows the questions you ask and the doubts you battle, and he says, “YOU, ALL of you, are right here in my hands.”

You are written on the powerful hands that created the heavens and the earth, so think about this, there is nothing that those hands, which bare the whole of you, cannot do. There is nothing those hands, which you are engraved on, cannot accomplish. Nothing they cannot overcome. Nothing they cannot move. Nothing they cannot contain. Those powerful hands are where you are!

I don’t have any tattoos because I’ve never seen anything that was just so beautiful that I thought I had to have that on my skin forever. But to think, God looked at you and I and thought we were so irresistibly beautiful that he wanted us engraved on his hand forever. And there we are, in that scar from the nail that held Jesus on the cross. There we are, never, ever to be forgotten, forsaken, or removed.

When God promised his people they were engraved on his hand, he kept his promise. 700 years later, here comes Jesus to fulfill the promise. What do we know for sure? God keeps his promise a thousand times. He never misses one. Every promise is honored and fulfilled. So why is it the next trial we face makes us doubt him? Honey, you’re engraved on his hand, he’s not going to forget you!

And now, the second part of that scripture, “your walls are continually before me.” Walls of a city represented their growth, their success, and their protection. These were walls that did not even exist at this point. Walls that God said were continually before him, meaning he had good plans and he was focused on fulfilling those good plans. God saw what was to come, and he would not be shaken from that vision.

My sister, God has your walls continually before him. The future for you that will be built. The growth you will experience. Future generations that will come from you, are continually before him. His eye is on all that he has planned for you, and nothing will stop him from building it.

This weekend, a seemingly random post was shared by a friend of mine on Facebook. It was the picture of a beautiful, smiling young woman, along with jail mugshots of the same woman. Intrigued, I read the post. Her name was Tasha. She tells the story of being a drug addict, losing her children, and in her 3rd jail in 3 weeks. When she walked into her jail cell, an older woman whom she had never met called her by her name and said ““Tasha, God is waiting to hear from you. You have to go home and take care of your children. They need you.”

This woman proceeded to tell her things about her no one else knew. It reminds me of the story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well and telling her things she was too ashamed to tell. From this encounter forward, Tasha’s life was forever changed. God was waiting to hear from her.

Her life was in shambles and everything was seemingly ruined, yet God had never forgotten about her. Remember, she is etched in the palms of his hands. And while she felt she had fallen so far she couldn’t be saved, God had never looked away from the good plans he had for her life.

Tasha is now with her children, helping lead a faith based ministry for women in recovery. Of course she is! Didn’t you see that coming?!!!! God sure did! God always had that planned. It was always right in in hands. Always.

And honey, the same is true for you. Wherever you are, whatever you’ve been through, you just have to know God has promises over your life and those promises will not be broken. You will never be forsaken or forgotten. His good plans for you will NOT be cancelled.

Maybe he’s just waiting to hear from you. Maybe it’s time to return to the hands where you are etched, and seek the plans he has for you. God, what are your good plans? Where will you have me go from here? What are you building in my life?

Your good things were always planned and I’m seeking them now!

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