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As Numerous as Grains of Sand
From My Blog Archives: Is God Too Busy?
Summer Study in Colossians
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August 19, 2008
Dear Friends:julie2
 
This edition of the Dogwood Digest contains musings on the involvement of God in our lives. Scripture assures us of His intimate knowledge and care. God is never too busy!
 
It is not too late to join us in our summer study in Colossians! Check out the opportunity at the bottom of this newsletter to work your way through this book with me by the end of August!
 
Please use the link at the very bottom of this email and forward it on to a friend who could use some encouragement! Thanks!
 
Love, Julie
As Numerous as Grains of Sand
A few weeks ago, my daughter Melanie, her friend Angie and I made what has become our annual day trip to the beach. Being a New England girl at heart, I need at least a one-day fix of roaring waves and haunting seagull cries per summer. We didn't choose the best of weather days to go this time. Within a few hours of arrival, we were repacking our things in an effort to beat an approaching thunderstorm to the car. But however the weather may treat us on any given year, one thing remains a constant at the beach.  It is the presence of sand.
 
Sand is between your toes as you walk, and sand crunches between your teeth as you attempt to eat your picnic lunch. It travels home with you in your car no matter how carefully you knock it off of the cooler and umbrellas before packing them away. It sticks to the blanket and towels even after a good shaking. Yet as much as you may inadvertently take home with you, you will have not made a dent. There is a vast amount of sand on the beach.
 
And that is just one beach! Think of the amount of sand that the entire east coast might contain. Mile after mile of white, sandy beaches border the edge of the continent from Maine to Florida.
 
David wrote about the unimaginable amount of sand on this earth, comparing it to the amount of thoughts God has about him as an individual. "How precious are Your thoughts of me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand." (Psalm 139:17-18) Have you ever taken a handful of sand and let the grains slowly sift through your fingers? Can you imagine counting each individual grain? God's thoughts of you are more numerous than a beach full of sand! David used this metaphor to try to get his mind around the amazing amount of thought and care God gives each of us individually.
 
We tend to limit God in our minds. Because He has attributed human characteristics to Himself to help us understand Him in part, we sometimes assume human limitations to God as well. Yet He has done and continues to do so much more for us than we can begin to imagine. We won't know how much until we get to heaven. He has put untold mercies and acts of kindness into our lives.
 
As David found the constant presence of God to be a comfort and a source of strength, so should we rest in His involvement in our lives. He is never unaware of where we are or how we are doing. He knows us better than we know ourselves-- after all, He knit us together in our mother's womb! Before we were even born, just chemicals, an unformed substance, David tells us our days were ordained before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16).
 
When we limit what we think of how specifically God involves Himself in our lives, what we are really doing is putting a limit on His power.  Colossians 1:17 assures us that He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. His power extends from the placing of kings on the throne to keeping the nucleus of a single atom from blowing apart. The big and the small things in our lives are carefully tended to by a God who is never overwhelmed by the details. Even the details more numerous than grains of sand on the beach.

From My Blog Archives
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Is God Too Busy?
 
It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.
Daniel 2:21

One of my biggest challenges as a teacher was to ark of the covenantmeet the needs of my many students. One pressing need I was always conscious of was a child's need for significance. In a classroom of twenty-five, it is all too easy to get lost in the shuffle. If I wasn't careful, I could allow the extroverted and outgoing children to command all of my attention. The quieter children needed attention, too. Therefore, I consciously tried to connect with each student on a daily basis. Whether I was asking them about their ball game the night before, giving them a wink as I caught their eye, or touching their shoulder as I passed by their desk, my goal was to demonstrate to each one that I noticed them that day. They were already secure in the fact that I had the classroom under control. But they also needed to know I recognized them as  individuals, too.

Of course, my ability to do it all, controlling the classroom as a group yet making each child feel significant, was severely limited by my humanness. I started every day with great intentions. But more often than not, fatigue, a discouraging note from a parent, or a difficult discipline problem would rob me of my energy and leave me hanging on by my fingernails to survive the rest of the day. I was only one person possessing twenty-five charges, desperately trying to meet their impossible demands-- the definition of a teacher-- and sincerely struggled to give it my best shot. But in reality, I failed children in this priority on a regular basis.

When we look at our world, we are challenged to understand the ability of God in this same regard. There is a new country song out, quickly gaining popularity, titled "God Must Be Busy." The writer fully believes that God is in control of this world. So the reason bad things happen or his prayers aren't answered must be because God is too busy. Overwhelmed by the world, I guess. Making everything go well is too big a job for even God.

The above quote from Daniel correctly identifies God as being all powerful. In His providence, he controls the happenings in this world with ease. He places kings into power and takes away the authority of others. Nothing that happens in this world is a surprise to God. He is working His purposes and His will definitely will be accomplished.

While most of us don't have trouble believing in an all-powerful God, we, like that country song writer, sometimes struggle to believe that our daily struggles can also be significant to Him. Our problems are too small, too unimportant.

But that is not what Scripture teaches.

Jesus told His disciples: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows." (Luke 12:7) King David wrote: "You know when I sit and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar. . . You are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, You know it all." (Psalm 139:2-4) God is not a god who is only interested in the big picture. He is powerful enough to be involved in even the very mundane in our lives.

So why do we limit Him in our perception? I think we are making the mistake of reducing Him to human terms. He does sometimes use human characteristics to describe Himself. It is really the only thing we are capable of understanding. But He is so much greater than that. We need to expand our thinking and acknowledge that His being is far beyond what we can truly comprehend.

While I might have trouble keeping the class as a group organized and on task while at the same time attempting to connect with the children as individuals, God is not limited in His power. He can put kings into power and still know the number of hairs on my head. He does more than sit back and watch us as we struggle through this life. He is intimately involved with us. He is in our head and in our heart. Don't mistake difficult circumstances for a lack of involvement. God is never too busy


Summer Study  in Colossians
 
Summer is a busy time, and we can often allow our many activities to force our time in God's Word to the back burner. It's not too late to change all that!  Each week day, I am posting a section of Colossians for us to ponder, systematically working our way through this remarkable letter by the apostle Paul.  
Please join me by clicking on this link:
juliecoleman.blogspot.com and begin a month of short studies together!  If you are just beginning, scroll down to day one and work your way up.
 
Be sure to pass the link on to others who might enjoy a month-long study this summer!