“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You” (Psalm 9:10, NASB).
The chairman of the agricultural college I attended desired to develop relationships with “influential” farmers through student internships. The director came to me and said, “We’ve never been able to get this farmer to take an intern, but he’s agreed just this once. This will determine if he supports the program or not. You’re going to be his intern. Oh, by the way, he’s hard to get along with, and he’s related to the chairman.”
Great.
I grew up on a small farm. I was out of my league. This farmer had over 2000 acres, hundreds of feeder cattle, and equipment I’d only seen at farm shows.
With an hour’s drive, I had to be there from 5:45 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., seven days a week. After a few months I was exhausted. One day I didn’t have the equipment set exactly the way he wanted. He let me know in “colorful terms” how I needed to change it. Maybe it was fatigue or failed expectations, but after he left I broke. In discouragement, I turned on the radio. Unfortunately, the AM radio was in Spanish. The only words I knew outside of English were names of Norwegian foods.
But then I heard the only word I recognized—Jesús. “That’s Jesus!” and for the next six hours I listened intently for the name Jesús! The song, “Jesus, Jesus, There’s just something about that Name,” was a lifeline for me.
It reminds me of the manger scene on a table next to our Christmas tree. If bumped, the figurines would fall off into the mound of presents. I can picture the kids pushing aside the presents finding shepherds, wise men, and angels, but then yelling, “We can’t find Jesus.”
During this time of year, with all the activities, confusion, hurts, and bumps, we have to push things aside, look and listen for the Name that calms, refreshes, and gives hope to our heart!