You Are Valuable to Him
I would like to continue with the thought from my last blog, "He Cares for You." In the last few weeks I have especially needed to hear this, not because of any particular physical or financial need but because I have been missing my husband so much. The morning after I wrote Wednesday's blog, I rode the bus to my transcription job at the hospital in Coupeville. As I got off the bus the sunrise was in full bloom and the sky was a hundred shades of pink. The whole sky as far as I could see was bathed in color. It was awesome. Evidently it was something unusual because the news reporters commented on it during the evening news. But as I walked from the bus to the hospital I breathed a prayer to the Lord. "You are so mighty that you paint the sky like this, and yet you care for ME." And I felt cared for.
Matt 1:29-31 says "Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows." NLB. These words came from the mouth of Jesus. (In my New Living Bible the words are in red!!) Stop and think about that. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing about it and taking note. We are so valuable to him that he numbers the hairs of our head. Now, that's mind boggling!! So why do we get frustrated, worry and become afraid? (Wednesday's verses said "Don't worry," and in today's reading it says "Don't be afraid.") I think it's because we don't really comprehend how valuable we are to the Lord.
Psalm 34:15 says "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry." He sees us and he listens to us. I need to remind myself of that often. Psalm 139 is too long to quote here, but take it out and read it again. It so poetically documents the care the Lord has for us. I especially like verses 17-18 in the New Living Bible. "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable. I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning you are still with me!" I heard one speaker say, "His care for us has a lover's attention to detail."
I love the way he orchestrates things in our lives. Things don't "just happen" to a believer. God is ordering your steps. Acts 10 is a wonderful story of that happening in the lives of two people: Peter and Cornelius. Cornelius, a gentile, was praying and the Lord sent an angel to him to tell him to send for Peter, and even told him where Peter was staying. At the same time the Lord was preparing Peter's heart so he would be willing to go and minister to a gentile, by giving him a vision of unclean animals and telling him to "Kill and eat." It only took one message to Cornelius, but God had to give his message to Peter three times!! But he did get it and when the messengers came from Cornelius he was willing to go with them. Peter started off his message to the gentiles by saying, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right."
Peter told them about Jesus and while he was still speaking God took things out of Peter's hands and filled them all with the Holy Spirit. This really convinced Peter. He said, "They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." So he baptized them in water too.
God was demonstrating how mindful he was of one gentile who was praying. He cares for us in exactly the same way. I don't know abut you, but I need to remind myself of that over and over and over again. If I am trusting God, things don't "just happen." They are orchestrated by God. We might not like everything that happens (I don't like it that my husband passed away), but some day we will know the reason for what God allows in our lives. We are so very valuable to him.
Tomorrows Bible Reading - Genesis 12, Matthew 11, Nehemiah 1, Acts 11
God is good all the time,
Naomi Brinkman
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