Does God Care? – audio

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Where is God?

Does he even know what’s going on in my life?

Does he care?

Because he doesn’t speak directly to us, and because we can’t literally see him, It is easy to start thinking he’s not there, or if he is, he’s not particularly interested in the things we’re facing. Especially the bad stuff. Where is he when all that happens?

To those of us who struggle with this – which is probably all of us – Jesus spoke some of the most comforting words anyone has ever said:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29–31

A day’s wage was a denarius, and a penny was 1/16 of a denarius. Since two sparrows were sold for a penny that means one sparrow was worth 1/32 of how much a man would make in a day.

Translation: not much.

Which was Jesus’ point. Sparrows had less value than almost anything in his world, but God noticed even their problems. Adding to the tenderness of the passage, Jesus said that God even knows how many hairs we’ve got on our heads.

In other words, he cares about us. A lot.

Satan tries to get us to think that God is distant, uninterested, uninvolved. But Jesus says that God is infinitely concerned about every struggle, every difficulty, and every hurt.

Sometimes we need to think about God’s love in global terms – “for God so loved the world . . .” – there’s not a spot on the planet that escapes his notice. But we also need to take comfort in the intimate nature of his personal love. He cares about me. And you. And your spouse or kid or mom or dad. Even your grumpy neighbor.

Whenever I see a bird lying on the side of the road, it reminds me of these words from Jesus. God took notice of that little blue jay, wren, or sparrow.

Just think how much he must care about your problems.