El Shaddai
Grace is like a blank check drawn upon the Bank of Heaven. However, a check is only as good as the person who stands behind it. To know that our grace check will cash, we need to find out Who the signer of the check is and discover if His “grace” reserves are adequate to our needs. The signer on your grace check is El Shaddai.
Over the centuries, God has used various methods to reveal Himself to mankind. In early times, even before Moses penned the first word of the Old Testament, God had begun to reveal Himself through His “names.” (Of course, the Bible is where God is most clearly revealed.) In our culture, an individual’s name can mean anything—or nothing—but in early times, names defined an individual. God used various names to describe Himself to ancient people.
In the Bible, there are some 20 names for God. Most people are familiar with the name Jehovah, which means “the revealing One” and refers to the intimate and very personal way God relates to us as a Father relates to His children.
Another name for God is El Shaddai, which means “He who is more than sufficient to meet your needs.” Abraham was the first person to meet God as El Shaddai. (El Shaddai is the God of the impossible, God of all grace, God of all miracles, God of all supply.)
When Abraham was 99 years old and his wife was 89, God came to them in the context of the impossible and told them they were going to have a child. Even in ancient times, when people lived longer lives, 89 and 99 years of age were too old to have a child. The situation sounded impossible! In the natural, it truly was impossible; however, no situation is hopeless for El Shaddai! Within a year’s time, baby Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah.
The name El Shaddai is used 48 times in the book of Job. Why does God manifest Himself as El Shaddai in this book? Because God was saying, through every step of Job’s trails—the loss of his fortune, his children, and his health— “I’m the God who can resolve your impossible situation. My grace is bigger than your loss. Your God is El Shaddai Who can meet ALL your needs.”
El Shaddai is knocking upon your door. He stands waiting for you to get past blame and guilt and to call upon His grace. God is “waiting in the wings” to take center stage in the tragedies of your life.