God to be God, God has to be more than just aware of our presence. Hence those immersed in God tell us that God knows us very intimately.
This is the basic message of the Bible too, from which we learn that God knows the exact number of hair on our head: “And even the hairs of your head are all counted” (Matthew 10:30). Elsewhere in the Bible we learn God has counted every bone that has been used to knit us together (Psalm 139:13-15). In that same place we learn that God also has all our days with all the happenings in his book (Psalm 139:16). In short, according to Isaiah the prophet, God has inscribed us on his palms (Isaiah 49:16).
All this is said to make me less anxious and worrisome about my present and the future. Hence I am encouraged not to be afraid. And I am reminded that I am of “more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31).
The Bible is clear about God’s knowledge of all happenings, including that which happens to an insignificant sparrow. The Contemporary English Version of the Bible poetically proclaims, “Aren’t two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29).
These are said that I may put aside all anxiety by trusting in the providence of God. As my worry decrease my trust in God will grow. I trust in God not only for receiving my physical nourishment but also for the receiving of my spiritual guidance that I may have the right perspectives to see within and around me!
Even in adverse circumstances, the Bible encourages me to trust in the providence of God. Bible does not say there will be no adverse circumstances to live through. My faith in God, I know for sure, does not remove such “thorns” and put me on the “bed of roses”. But even when I “walk through the valley of death”, now I am learning, that I need not fear, or drown in anxiety.
Hagar, Abraham’s maidservant, the Egyptian slave, or the Egyptian princess according to the Islamic sources, did walk through, the “valley of death”. In that story Hagar after walking in the desert and she had run out of water was afraid that her little son Ishmael would die of thirst. She was utterly powerless to provide for her helpless son. Hence “Hagar put her son under a bush. Then she sat down a long way off, because she could not bear to watch him die. And she cried bitterly (Genesis 21:15f)”.
That story, however, has a happy ending! God heard her cries, or heard Ishmael’s cries and provided her with a “well” from where she drew water for her son and continued the journey. Muslims believe that the well in Mecca near the sacred Mosque of Kaba is that well from which Hagar drew water for her son Ishmael and it is still known as Zam Zam well. That well, we are informed, never dries!
As the intensity of my suffering increases, I learn from the story above, God’s nearness and providence too will increase. And this happens almost always in subtle ways that I often fail to recognize the nearness and providence that saves me.
I, like many others today, look for substantial and tangible evidence for God’s nearness and providence before I could establish trust in God. There are two very tangible boxes in my home that provide for me very quickly and mould me by dictating details! Here I refer to the television and the refrigerator that largely decrease my sense of dependence on God! These two provide me with tangible and substantial providence!
But God does not do that way! God’s ways are almost always subtle. God let Hagar see the well (Genesis 21:19). To see God enabling me to see I must increase my God consciousness. Deepak Chopra, one of the best selling authors on matters regarding spirituality and wellness, makes the same point when argues that this knowledge comes only by a “serious, diligent seeking – by opening a path to God-consciousness” (The Third Jesus, 2008, p. 76). For it is only through that God consciousness I see that nearness and providence of God.
This is the basic message of the Bible too, from which we learn that God knows the exact number of hair on our head: “And even the hairs of your head are all counted” (Matthew 10:30). Elsewhere in the Bible we learn God has counted every bone that has been used to knit us together (Psalm 139:13-15). In that same place we learn that God also has all our days with all the happenings in his book (Psalm 139:16). In short, according to Isaiah the prophet, God has inscribed us on his palms (Isaiah 49:16).
All this is said to make me less anxious and worrisome about my present and the future. Hence I am encouraged not to be afraid. And I am reminded that I am of “more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31).
The Bible is clear about God’s knowledge of all happenings, including that which happens to an insignificant sparrow. The Contemporary English Version of the Bible poetically proclaims, “Aren’t two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29).
These are said that I may put aside all anxiety by trusting in the providence of God. As my worry decrease my trust in God will grow. I trust in God not only for receiving my physical nourishment but also for the receiving of my spiritual guidance that I may have the right perspectives to see within and around me!
Even in adverse circumstances, the Bible encourages me to trust in the providence of God. Bible does not say there will be no adverse circumstances to live through. My faith in God, I know for sure, does not remove such “thorns” and put me on the “bed of roses”. But even when I “walk through the valley of death”, now I am learning, that I need not fear, or drown in anxiety.
Hagar, Abraham’s maidservant, the Egyptian slave, or the Egyptian princess according to the Islamic sources, did walk through, the “valley of death”. In that story Hagar after walking in the desert and she had run out of water was afraid that her little son Ishmael would die of thirst. She was utterly powerless to provide for her helpless son. Hence “Hagar put her son under a bush. Then she sat down a long way off, because she could not bear to watch him die. And she cried bitterly (Genesis 21:15f)”.
That story, however, has a happy ending! God heard her cries, or heard Ishmael’s cries and provided her with a “well” from where she drew water for her son and continued the journey. Muslims believe that the well in Mecca near the sacred Mosque of Kaba is that well from which Hagar drew water for her son Ishmael and it is still known as Zam Zam well. That well, we are informed, never dries!
As the intensity of my suffering increases, I learn from the story above, God’s nearness and providence too will increase. And this happens almost always in subtle ways that I often fail to recognize the nearness and providence that saves me.
I, like many others today, look for substantial and tangible evidence for God’s nearness and providence before I could establish trust in God. There are two very tangible boxes in my home that provide for me very quickly and mould me by dictating details! Here I refer to the television and the refrigerator that largely decrease my sense of dependence on God! These two provide me with tangible and substantial providence!
But God does not do that way! God’s ways are almost always subtle. God let Hagar see the well (Genesis 21:19). To see God enabling me to see I must increase my God consciousness. Deepak Chopra, one of the best selling authors on matters regarding spirituality and wellness, makes the same point when argues that this knowledge comes only by a “serious, diligent seeking – by opening a path to God-consciousness” (The Third Jesus, 2008, p. 76). For it is only through that God consciousness I see that nearness and providence of God.
I need to take time to reflect on my journey and the events on that path to be able to capture the nearness and providence of God in my life! Without that time and inclination to think I will miss the presence of God and his angels! So I pray to God daily: Help me to increase my God-consciousness, enabling me to multiply in my self that diligent seeking of your ways in my life.
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