Genesis 1:7 “I am El Shaddai, walk before me and be perfect.”
It is difficult for any descriptive name to be all-inclusive. I am a woman, a daughter, a sister, a student, a girlfriend, and a musician all at the same time. No one of those descriptive names would completely describe me. Even these do not fully describe me! In the same way, the scriptures describe God in many different ways, so that all the titles and names may begin to convey some of His qualities.
In Hebrew the word ‘shad’ means breast, indicating sufficiency and nourishment, a supplying of needs as a mother would her child. In this case the name might derive from the contraction of Sha (‘who’) and Dai (‘enough’). El being the word for God: in other words ‘God who is enough’.
Very often the promises of God’s Word are all that the believer has. In difficult times we turn in faith to the promises of God’s Word and they give us strength to persevere. That is because the promises of God’s Word are guarantees from the unchanging, sovereign, covenant God to His people. God’s promises are not ‘maybes,’ they are not simply possibilities. No, when God makes a promise, He follows through. He fulfills His word. That is because He is a God who cannot lie and who never changes.
Job says, “He knoweth the way I take” (23:10). He knows it because He totally decreed it, but also because He traveled it Himself. When Jesus came to earth, He bore every grief; He carried every sorrow; He faced every temptation; He knew every disappointment that you or I might experience. We have a Savior who was tempted and tried in every point just as we are. One who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He really knows. He really sympathizes with His people in whatever their suffering.
And if you consider what your life is, that is so important. God has laid out, He has planned, He has prepared every aspect and moment of your life. Because He is familiar with it, He is the perfect guide.
This idea has the ability to revolutionize our walk with God. If we truly understand the God is all we need, that anything we have want for He can provide. If we are willing to radically trust Him as the perfect Father, and believe that He walks with us on this journey, a peace beyond human understanding is found.
One Thing Have I Desired 