God believes in YOU!

One of the more obscure exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution displays the personal effects found on Abraham Lincoln the night he was shot. They include a small handkerchief embroidered A. Lincoln, a country boy’s pen knife, a spectacle case repaired with cotton string, a Confederate five-dollar bill, and a worn-out newspaper clipping extolling his accomplishments as president. It begins, “Abe Lincoln is one of the greatest statesmen of all time. . . .” Why would our nation’s sixteenth president carry around a clipping like that? History remembers Lincoln as a folk hero and a president’s president. Was Lincoln an ego-maniac? Hardly. When Lincoln was president, he wasn’t as popular as he became after his death. The nation was bitterly divided, and Lincoln’s leadership was constantly threatened. He was the object of a critical press. So Abraham Lincoln needed something in his pocket to remind himself that his critics were not his only observers. So he carried an icon [symbol] of affirmation, something that reminded him someone believed in him.

We all need someone to believe in us. God loves you desperately and believes in you with a passion and with a purpose. He has more thoughts about you than there are grains of sand on a beach, he knows how many hairs you have on your head. He is for you.