As this summer is flying by, more and more, I’m conscious of how busy life is and how easy it can be to miss things. Specifically with my kids – for the most part, they entertain themselves, they’re old enough to make lunches on their own and get snacks, and to do a lot of things for themselves. It is amazing to see them grow and take on responsibility and become more independent – but it’s hard too because they will never not be my babies! I always want to be there for them, and I always want them to come to me if they need something. They are such great joy in my life!
Do you know that God looks at us – at YOU – that way as His children? It’s easy for me to forget that. I go about my days and the tasks I have to do – not really thinking or realizing that as His child, He wants to be a part of even the small things that I do. I can live for the most part feeling fairly independent – I know how to take care of my house (though if you stopped by at any given time, you might disagree! It always seems to be a mess!), I know how to run errands, I know how to buy groceries and make meals, etc. etc... And these are things that often I just DO – basically on autopilot.
I was recently reminded by a daily reading in the devotional “Daily with the King” by W. Glyn Evans that God is a God of great detail. I know this to be true, but I don’t usually think of it in terms of my everyday life. Here are a few excerpts that I loved from the July 3 reading titled “God the Great Prosaic”:
“One of my chief sins is to make God so majestic and infinite that He cannot be prosaic…I have come to feel that the humdrum detail of the daily round is an intrusion, as trifling of His presence and power. I have looked upon daily chores as something alien to God’s ways of doing things, instead of realizing that irksome detail is just as ablaze with God’s glory as the burning bush.”
“God notices when sparrows fall, He dresses flowers, He counts the hairs of my head, He measures my height (Luke 12:6, 7, 25, 27). God not only works with trivia and delights in it, but I might almost say God majors in trivia. He devised the massive detail of the universe and tends it. He also is the Architect of the trivia of my life…”
“Like a loving parent, God is interested in the cuts and scratches that infect my daily life. What concerns me, concerns Him (1 Peter 5:7). He loves to do what humans detest – to be “bothered.” It is no bother to Him when I pour my heart’s trivia out to Him, for He “careth” for me.”
Being a parent has been the greatest window for me to try to understand God’s heart for me as His child. As much as I can concentrate on my shortcomings and unworthiness before Him – when I can look at my children and how much I love them and the details of who they are and know there is nothing they could do to change my heart towards them – I begin to understand the amazing heart of God for us. To remember that He created each of us on purpose and for a purpose is so utterly humbling.
A verse that comes to my mind very often is Psalm 8:3-4 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” Of all that God created and made, who am I that He thinks of me? That I can cry out to Him at any moment and have His attention, can ask for His help and guidance, can lay before Him my cares and concerns, can praise Him and it brings joy to His heart – not only is He mindful of man, but He delights in His children. As I delight in mine, and the pictures they draw, and the funny things they say, and the pride I feel in seeing them grow. The little things, the little details – they bring joy to His heart. What is man that You are mindful of him – you are the reason God gave His Son, because He loved you so much. And He wanted to be part of your everyday life – from now through eternity.
Is it easy for you to remember God in the details of your life? Or do you need this reminder as often as I do!?
I hope you have a wonderful summer – filled with the assurance that God is in it with you.