Psalm 147:3-5 "He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.He counts the stars and calls them all by name.How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!"
Matthew 10:29-31 "Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows."
Flying over the desolate beauty of Wyoming on my way back home, I made an intriguing observation. At cruising altitude, I noticed little recurring lightly colored tan spots on the ground below, as far as the eye could see. Polka-dotting the brushed suede desert terrain like calico print, they piqued my curiosity.
Intently following them all the way into landing, I discovered that the spots were actually individual anthills! It was hard to believe. When I thought about all of the millions of anthills speckled across most of the 97,000 square miles of Wyoming countryside, full of potentially hundreds of thousands of ants in each one. And then to think, God knows and cares for each one of them, I could hardly process such an immense thought. In my very small and finite heart, my God began to grow that day.
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit developing countries inundated with people—millions and millions of lonely, sad, suffering people. As I tried to understand how God could possibly care about or even know about each person occupying this great planet, He reminded me of the ants. "Just like those mega-billions of ants, I know each and every person intimately, by name. I know their joys and sorrows. I know their desires and lost dreams. I am passionate about their lives and destinies, so I sent my own Son to die for each and every one of them."
I had never intellectually processed the notion that the same God who calls each star by name also calls each person by name. Through the ants and then the many billions of people, my God had suddenly become bafflingly vast and unimaginatively limitless, especially when I saw with my own eyes what an awesome impossibility it all is, humanly speaking.
Since then, I find great comfort in knowing and believing such a limitless, inexhaustible God who gives His personal attention to the details of my life, every single minute of every single day. In a way, it makes me feel small and insignificant compared to the great numbers of people and needs on this planet.
But it also makes me feel completely important, significant, and loved to know that a God with an infinite number of concerns on His Fatherly heart 24/7 would still send His Son to die for me, and pursue a personal, intimate, relationship with me.