One matters to God

Have you ever felt overwhelmed when facing big issues such as poverty, environmental degradation or human trafficking to name a few? Have you thought that any action you take is so small and insignificant, so why even bother?

I am sure you have heard the story of the boy who was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and kept throwing them back into the water.  A man saw him and asked him what he was doing and tried to make the boy realize that it wouldn’t matter because there were thousands of starfish on the beach in thousands of beaches around the world, but the boy refused to give up, picked up another one, threw it back into the ocean saying: “it mattered to that one”.

“As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person” Paul Shane Spear

One matters to God, He is all about personal relationships; He cares about you!  About everything you do what you feel, what you fear, what you want to hide from the past and what you dream for the future. He knows you and wants to have a relationship with you because you matter to Him.  He wants to bless you because He loves you “I love all who love me.  Those who search for me will surely find me.  Unending riches, honor, wealth, and justice are mine to distribute.” (Proverbs 8:17) 

We read in the Bible how Jesus changed people’s lives; how He kept spreading God’s love one person at the time. He could have used a more “efficient” method, for example, once He arrived to a city, He could have gotten together all the people who were sick and He could have had massive healing gatherings, this way thousands of people would have been healed all at once!… but no, He chose one on one and those healings are still teaching us today. 

God loves us beyond understanding and He sees everything that happens to His children, to all His children! “You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers.  Yes, I am aware of their suffering.  So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians… Now go, for I am sending you.” (Exodus 3:7; 10)  It is so easy to say a quick prayer from our comfortable lives, and keep going, and that is fine sometimes, but other times God wants to send us, to literally take us places we would prefer not to go, because they are not pretty nor comfortable, but that is where some of His children are, waiting for someone to say to them… “You matter to God and to me”.

So we are clear that we, each of us, all of us are important to God. Now, let’s understand that God wants to use us to help one or many; all we have to do is give to Him what we have and see how He multiplies it beyond our comprehension.  Remember the story of Jesus feeding five thousand people? “Jesus soon saw a great crowd of people climbing the hill, looking for him.  Turning to Philip, he asked, ‘Philip, where can we buy bread to feed all these people?’ He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.  Philip replied, ‘it would take a small fortune to feed them!’… ‘There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish.  But what good is that with this huge crowd?’ … Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and passed them out to the people.  Afterward he did the same with the fish.  And they all ate until they were full.”  (John 6:5-9; 11)  We just need to give God the little we have and wait for Him to do the rest.

We all are a family, and we need to take care of each other.  We need to spread God’s love one person at the time, giving God our talents and abilities and letting Him guide our steps to multiply the gifts He has given us for the good of His people.  “God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11) God loves all of us the same, so once we realize the depth of His love for us, we need to be Jesus’ hands and feet and show the people He puts in our heart His love for them.