He's Closer than You think!

by James
(Spotsylvania, VA)

There isn't ONE part of your life that God doesn't know about or is directly involved in. He is so awesome that He KNOWS when a sparrow falls to the ground. Matthew and Luke say it well:

Matthew 10:29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father....."
Luke 12:6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God...”

That speaks VOLUMES about our loving and faithful God; He knows when one of the smallest of His creatures falls to the ground....every one. And not ONE of them falls with it BEING HIS WILL! Did you get that? Can you grasp the enormity of that phrase alone? Our awesome, ALL-Powerful God, who keeps the planets in alignment with a Word..."Let there be!" doesn't let ONE, SINGLE, SPARROW fall to the ground UNLESS it is His will!

THAT is worth a LIFETIME of praise! You see friends and family, this is not some stiff and foreboding God we serve, this is not a God who waits for a chance to strike us down when we do wrong, He is not some God who treats us like an ant-farm experiment! THIS is a God who lovingly watches a single sparrow fall to the ground and feels sadness for it. This is NOT some distant, aloof, “arms folded, frown-on-His-face”, GOD! Oh! No! far from it!

Now, take a break from worshipping Him and His mind-boggling omnipresence because there's something even DEEPER than the sparrow falling....there is a factoid I am going to share with you that will surely give you pause to re-think your relationship with Him. If I were you I would sit down......ready?

In the same chapters and verses of Matthew and Luke we read above, Jesus tells us ONE MORE THING about He and His Father's deep love and desire to have fellowship with us, He gives us a true analogy that is so deep and profound, that there is NOT another like it in ALL the Bible! In one sentence He describes for us how close He and the Father are to us and how close they WANT TO ALWAYS BE.

Here is the sentence, found in Matthew 10:30 and Luke 12:7:

"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered."

Now before I go on, THINK about that for a minute. "THE VERY HAIRS ON YOUR HEAD ARE NUMBERED..." The Bible didn't say they were counted.....it says they were NUMBERED!

To have ALL the hairs on your head counted would be a Herculean task in itself.... scientists have estimated the average human head has between 100,000 - 150,000 "strands" of hair....this is not including re-grown hair (after a haircut) or hair loss due to temporary or permanent balding. Nor does it consider that hair grows about 0.4mm per day, which would increase the amount of hairs being counted. Consider for a moment that there are about 7 billion people on this Earth today, not counting those who lived and died before us nor those that will come after us. If you could include EVERYONE in our “hair-counting” census...we would arrive at a number that most computers could not calculate......making this a task ONLY a GOD could accomplish. Truly beyond belief. Simply staggering to even think about. What could possibly be harder and more mind-numbing thank counting hairs?

How about numbering those hairs? That’s right, try assigning and tracking EVERY hair on every head on earth!

The Bible says it, JESUS says it; “…the hairs on your head are NUMBERED”!!! PRAISE GOD!!!

My GOD and YOUR GOD, knows you and loves you so much and so deeply that HE knows the INDIVIDUAL NUMBER OF EACH AND EVERY HAIR YOU HAD, HAVE AND WILL EVER HAVE! He knows this for EVERY SINGLE HUMAN THAT EVER LIVED, LIVES OR WILL LIVE. To put it into a perspective worth worshipping over....when you went for your last haircut or styling or when you brushed your hair, you lost or caught some hairs in your brush or comb, GOD KNEW those were .."hair numbers 77, 456 thru 87, 345"!!!!! When you dove into the pool, He KNEW, “ hair numbers 101,234 thru 101,679” stayed in the pool when you got out!

THAT is the kind of God we serve! He IS a GOD who cares for the most intimate and minute details of our lives, He IS a God who wanted relationship with us SO BAD, He clothed Himself in lowly human flesh, was born in a filthy manger, walked among His creations for 33 years, died the most gruesome death ever, ROSE AGAIN with ALL power over sin, Death and Hell and sits at the Right hand of God, interceding for Us and by grace offering us eternal salvation!

And He knows us! Yes, this God knows us….This water walking, demon exorcising, “water- to-wine” turning God named Jesus! Yes it is this Jesus, who falls asleep in bottom of a fishing boat in the middle of a raging storm and wakes up, wiping the sleep from His eyes, glances briefly at His creation raging about Him and speaks three calming Words: “PEACE....Be Still!” and waves, rain and wind obey! THIS Jesus; who paid His taxes by catching a fish and pulling gold coins from its mouth! Yes, This is Jesus! Who calls Peter out to walk on the water, who gives sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, movement to broken limbs! Jesus! Our God and Savior, who heals issues of blood by the hem of His dusty garments! JESUS! Who weeps in front of Lazarus' grave then shouts LIFE into his body, calling him out of a dark and stank Grave! Jesus, the GREAT I AM! JESUS! who gave salvation to a dying criminal on the cross next to Him! JESUS! The Rose of Sharon! JESUS! The Bright and Morning Star! JESUS! The wonderful Counselor! JESUS! The Mighty GOD! JESUS! The Everlasting Father! JESUS! The Prince of Peace! JESUS! The King of Kings and Lord of Lords! JESUS! The marriage Healer! JESUS! Our mind regulator! JESUS! Our cancer-curer! JESUS! Our lawyer in the Courtroom! JESUS! Our Bill-payer! JESUS! The Son of the MOST HIGH! JESUS! The Word! JESUS! Whose very name causing Demons to tremble! JESUS! He is worthy of ALL our love, all our devotion and all of our PRAISE! JESUS!

Yes, GOD sits on the throne of the Heavens with the Earth as His footstool! He is big enough to set the foundation of the Universe, create the Heavens and the Earth in six days and yet He IS the same GOD who walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden, who called Moses "His friend",(Exodus 33:11) He is our GOD, small enough to help you find your keys, get you a good parking spot, help you find a bargain, pass that test, pay that utility bill; He is GOD over it all and He knows the number of EACH and EVERY strand of hair you ever had or will have.....

WHY serve anyone or anything else! Why worship the world and its sin, lies, materiality and debauchery when we can be wrapped up in the loving arms of a God who knows the numbers of our hairs? And He is not far away in Heaven tucked away in a cloud.....He is as close as your heart....for the Bible says in Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."

He's closer than you think!

Be Blessed!

PRAYER: "Heavenly Father. Today Lord, I am humbled by your awesome power and majesty, your grace and your mercy! Lord, I thank you today with ALL MY HEART, that you Love me so much that you have numbered the very hairs on my head! I thank you Lord that I am that special and treasured by YOU! I thank you for your sacrificial love! I thank you for coming here, living amongst us, dying for us and our filthy sins and I thank you for rising up with ALL POWER in your hands! Father, forgive me for not recognizing how close you really are to me! Help me to acknowledge you in EVERYTHING I do; how I walk, how I talk, how I work, how I interact with others. You are right there with me in every situation, every step of the way. Thank you for never leaving me nor forsaking me. And thank you Lord Jesus, for the hairs on my head; let each strand be a constant reminder to me of how precious I am to you!

In JESUS' name I pray....AMEN”

Questions for Reflection:

1. Do you pause to think about how close God really is to you?
2. Name some of the little things that you take for granted that verify that God is everywhere in your life? Now that you recognize them as signs that He is near, can you see yourself changing the way you live your life in the midst of the everyday “hustle and bustle?”
3. When was the last time God moved in your life in a “small way” and you just knew it was Him? (e.g. remembering an important name, lost keys, found a small amount of money that you really needed, etc.)
4. Do you praise God for the little things? Why not?