When God sent Moses to the children of Israel He told him if anybody asked who sent him he was to say “I am” has sent me. When Moses approached the children of Israel and talked to them about God’s plan to deliver them I’m sure they wanted to know who gave him his marching orders. When they asked Moses who sent him he said, “I am.” Moses didn’t say “I am God” or “I am your deliverer,” even though both are true, he just said “I am” has sent me.
For many years I tried to figure this one out, just seemed like a strange name to me. It seemed like He stopped in the middle of a statement about Himself, then through a series of events with a family member, my dear Father cleared it up for me.
Sandy became a part of our family when she married my brother-in-law. As I got to know Sandy I discovered she had always been a very independent, driven person that worked very hard to support herself and her children. Because of circumstances she had no control over as she was growing up she had to learn from a very early age to fend for herself. She trusted no one but herself. Sandy thought it very strange to see us loving on each other at family gatherings. She felt like if someone showed you love they wanted something in return.
Then, in one of life’s unexpected turns Sandy was diagnosed with several debilitating diseases that included fibromyalgia, COPD, and emphysema. In a matter of a few months she was no longer able to work. This once independent, hard working woman was unable to do anything for herself.
Concerned about Sandy, especially in regard to her relationship with the Lord, a friend of mine and I visited her one evening with the intention of sharing the gospel with her. As I shared that God loved her and wanted her to trust Him for salvation she told me that trusting anybody was totally foreign to her thinking. She wasn’t belligerent, she was just being honest with me.
I didn’t press the issue, quite frankly, I was at a loss for anything else to say to her and then I noticed a Bible lying on the table. I asked Sandy if she would do some reading in the book of John. When she agreed I asked her to write down every time she saw the phrase “I am” and the description of our Lord that followed. I told her I would check back later to see what she had discovered.
During a visit with her a couple weeks later I asked her if she had done her homework, to which she replied “yes I did”.
When I asked her what she had learned she told me “the best I can understand, I think He is saying I am everything you need.”
I thought “what an awesome definition of His name”. A week or so later Sandy trusted in Jesus as her personal Savior. She fell head over heels in love with Him and His Word.
Later on Sandy was diagnosed with cancer and as all these diseases ravaged her body we would visit to encourage and comfort her but it didn’t take long for us to discover we were the recipients of “her” encouragement. She could hardly wait to share something new she had learned about Him from His Word, and shared she did. In the short time she had left on this earth, if you were around her for a few minutes you heard about her Savior.
We would leave her knowing that she was being comforted by the God of all comfort.
If Sandy could speak to us now I believe she would say,
If you feel like you are unloved Jesus says “I am the One that loves you unconditionally, just the way you are.”
If you have lost your way Jesus says “I am the way.”
If you need forgiveness Jesus says “I am the one who forgives all your sins.”
If you need peace Jesus says “I am your peace.”
For whatever question, for whatever need you have, Jesus says “I am everything you need.”
The next post is a very special surprise God gave us the day Sandy went home.