DAILY DEVOTIONAL – January 21, 2020
“Holy Micromanager”
Prayer: Our Creator God, we confess that too many times we are of little faith; doubting Your presence and love for us. Father, have mercy on us for the sake of Jesus, and strengthen our faith in knowing that You know every hair on our head and even after You saw every one of our days before yet one came to pass, You still sent Your Son to die for our sins and rise again for our justification. It is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Scripture: Mathew 6:25-30
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Devotional – “Holy Micromanager”
Doctor Richard A. Swenson is a medical doctor and award-winning author. In his book “More Than Meets the Eye”, Dr. Swenson reveals a God who is much closer to us and within us than we could ever imagine.
As I was reading through his book the other day, I came across a section that left me mind-boggled. Science has never been a strong area of study for me, so blowing my mind with science stuff isn’t hard to do, but, even if you are a scientific mind and already know some of this stuff, I am sure it still leaves you in awe as it did me…or at least I pray it does.
Other than the electrons that surround an atom, the atom is the smallest particle known to mankind. According to Dr. Swenson:
The number of atoms the human body contains is “10 to the 28th power atoms (1 followed by 28 zeros). The universe itself contains perhaps only 10 to the 20th power. {It is estimated that each star can have as high as 10 to the 24th power). In light of such comparisons, I teach young doctors that the human body is a million times more complex than the universe.
According to isotope studies, 90 percent of our atoms are replaced annually. Every five years, 100 percent of our atoms turn over and become new atoms. Aren’t you glad that doesn’t hurt? Aren’t you glad your doctor can’t charge you for it?
In the last hour, one trillion of your atoms have been replaced. If all the people on earth were to set about counting this rate of atomic turnover in your body, each person would have to count ten billion atoms per second to keep up.”
Dr. Swenson continues and says:
“Who is watching over this atomic exchange? You? Your physician? Only God can monitor something of this magnitude—a process that causes such dramatic exchange and disruption, yet holds all things together.”
After reading this part of Dr. Swenson’s book, I kind of just sat…zoning out…reflecting on how incredible God is. Two Scripture passages came to mind as I was lost in thought.
The first is from Psalm 8:3-4 which says:
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
It is incredible to think that the Almighty God of the universe by whom all things were created and in whom all things hold together, not only created us but cares for us so deeply and so closely. Like the Psalmist, we should all be left stunned by the fact that instead of just erasing us from existence because of our sinfulness and rebellion against God our Creator, He instead loved us so much that He came to earth Himself and allowed His own body to be sacrificed in our place. He allowed His own body to die and yet rise again in order to give us everlasting life.
The second passage that came to mind in my reflections was our devotional text for today from Matthew 6. Not only has God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place, but God is ever-faithful, caring for us in every possible way every day. You and I may not be able to see or even count the atoms that make up our bodies, but God sees and cares for each and every one of them. As Psalm 31:14 says, “You are my God and my times [my life] is in Your hands!”
That’s the Good News my friends, our life is not in our hands but in the hands of our Maker and Creator God who has so loved us and redeemed us in the blood of His Son. Rest in His love and care.
Thanks for joining me today for another time of devotion, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
