I remember one morning a few years ago, I sat on my front porch to drink my cup of coffee. Not my usual location, but I wanted to get a different perspective on the day. After several minutes I caught a tiny movement in the corner of my eye. It was a torn leaf, about the size of an M&M, being dragged off by a quartet of minuscule ants. It was only then that I really looked and caught sight of the hundreds of ants that were scattered here and there all over the porch, each of them searching for or carrying away edible bounties to share with the colony. In that moment I was amazed at how easily I had overlooked their presence. They were everywhere, and yet their miniature size was easily disregarded by my enormous eye.

In that moment I was also impressed with an observation that Jesus made in Luke 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.”

My mortal attention span is so narrow that it took me several minutes to realize that I was surrounded by hundreds of infinitesimal creatures, whose existence rarely means anything to me (until they get into my house…but that’s another discussion altogether). It took the mighty task of carrying a leaf the size of a bite size candy just to get me to notice them.

Yet, the Creator of the universe is so honed in on each of us individually that He has assigned every hair on our heads a number. Not a single one of us is ever forgotten, even though, comparatively, we are little more than ants scurrying around on this big planet. It may not always feel like this is the case, especially in our tougher days. But take courage, God is still there. He is still watching with His great love and concern for your pain. And He is working to lead you in the paths you must walk for the sake of His glory and your eternity.

Cory Waddell