To Encourage You

Matthew 12:6-7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Some years ago, I was having a conversation with a friend whose view was that although God may have been involved in some way when the universe came into being, He’s operated in a largely “hands-off” manner ever since.  So, is that the way it is?  Is God some cosmic force or energy that has a vague relationship to “the real world,” but He’s not involved personally with us in any way? Well, what did Jesus say about all this?  What was His teaching? 

We find one such reference in the verses above.  Here He assures us that God is intimately involved in the life of not only every person, but in the life of everything else He’s created, like the inconspicuous (even to us) sparrows that flit around day after day. He is more intimately aware of and involved in our lives than we are, for do any of us know how many hairs are on our head?  In Psalm 139:1-6 we read these words: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”

You see, God is certainly involved in what’s been going on in any worldwide crisis, things like Covid-19, but it’s not in some vague, far-off manner.  He’s involved intimately with each and every one of us.  Can you even imagine how this worldwide event affected people on a personal level?  Think of the changes that were brought to bear on untold billions of people.  But everything else in life didn’t taken a hiatus while we dealt with the effects of the virus.  Obviously, there were myriads of things that were going on in each person’s life before this struck, and these things continued.  And there are new and unrelated things that are happening each and every day.  But you can be assured in all of it, God is intimately aware and at work no matter how or what we may think.  He has told each and every one of us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).  And He’s also told us “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5-7).

And you know what?  Just as our Father in heaven knows the number of hairs on every head, He also hears the prayers of every person, every single one of them.  That’s a “God-thing” of course, for it’s something that’s too awesome for any of us to fully wrap our head around, but that’s the kind of God we serve. Awesome, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, in sovereign control of all the “big things” like a world-wide crisis, but also intimately involved in each and every one of our lives, every moment of every day.  It’s an awesome thing and it’s a wonderful thing, and it’s the truth, whether any of us want to believe it or not.  But oh, how he longs for us to see it.

Praise His name!