God in the Details

It's so easy to get distracted by the big things in nature - isn't it? Our attention is drawn by the things that stand out. A towering storm cloud. An enormous tree. A snow-capped mountain range. Even in our lives, sometimes all we can see is the "mountain" in front of us, and it can feel overwhelming.

On a recent camping trip, we found these tiny land snails - no bigger than a child's fingernail. There were fantastic views of grand landscapes, too (we were in the Black Hills of South Dakota), but what really caught my attention were the snails. We found them underneath rocks, and we could have easily walked past them for the entire trip and never known they were there. Such a small, seemingly insignificant thing when viewed against the enormity of the area they live in... and yet, they were so perfectly detailed. The beautiful patterns in their shells, the intricacies of their colors, the role they play in the ecosystem, and the daintiness of their tiny bodies... It really made me think.

 

God cared about a tiny snail, that many people will never see, enough to make it perfect. He is present in every area of our lives, and He cares about even the tiny details. In fact, Psalm 37: 23 says that He delights in the details of our lives. So many times, God provides something in our lives just to make us smile - a sunset, the song of a bird, an unexpected blessing "just because." And yet, when we are facing a mountain of some type, many times all we can see is the difficulty. We see the bills and don't know how they will be paid. We see the struggle and don't know how we will overcome it. We see the pain and don't know how we will heal. 

 

God shows us a bit of His glory in His creation - in the details - maybe so that we will see and remember that He cares about every detail of our lives. Look for the small things - look, and remember. God is here. He is with us. We need not worry.