“And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.” Matthew 10:30 (NLT)

 
When I encouraged a friend at church to pray about a troubling situation, she responded in a way that, at some point, we may have all felt.  She discounted my suggestion by saying, “God has much more important things to worry about than my little problems.”  I assured her that nothing was too small to present to God, but I don’t think I convinced her.

Later as I thought about her response, I wondered what had led her to this incorrect conclusion about God.  Had she heard this idea while she was growing up?  Had someone important made her feel like her needs were insignificant and then she transferred this idea to God’s thoughts about her?

We have to be careful that our ideas about God come from God, not from someone else, not even from a Christian teacher or pastor or book.  To know who God is and how He views us, we need to go to God’s Word.

When we look at Scripture we see that God’s character is strikingly different from this lady’s conclusion about who God is.  God’s Word affirms over and over that He is a God who cares about the details.  In Matthew 10:30 God is so intimately acquainted with us that “the very hairs on your head are all numbered” (NLT).  Psalm 147:4 tells us that God “counts the stars and calls them all by name” (NLT).

In Mark 5 we learn about a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years.  Perhaps this woman in Scripture is like my church friend.  She’s believed God has more important things to worry about than her small health problem.  However, in her desperate desire to be healed, she decides that if there’s even a chance that her suffering will end, she’s taking that chance.  Scripture tells us she “touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” (Mark 5: 28-29 NIV).

Immediately Jesus stops and asks who has touched Him.  Considering the circumstances, it’s astounding to see Jesus pause for one woman.  With a huge crowd pressing in on Him, with dust and noise and pulls and tugs, Jesus stops.  He stops for one small woman who had the faith to reach out with one small touch.

Scripture tells us who God really is.  He’s not a God who loves from afar.  He’s a God who cares about the details of our lives.  Nothing is too small to present to Him.  Nothing escapes His attention, His care, and His love.