Luke 12:6-7: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (NIV).
The epigraph, or defining verse, of my book Over Her Head, was the verse above. I chose it because there is a point in the book when Jessica Blake, the heroine, writes this verse reference on the wrist of a girl who needs to hear it.
While I was writing this book, I had been studying the Sermon on the Mount with my Bible study ladies, and the point about how we are worth more than the lilies of the field and the birds of the air struck me anew. I wanted to focus on the idea of how much we are worth to God in a world that seems to value human life so shallowly.
In a society where physical beauty, talent, success, and achievements are the things that define our worth, it is so easy to feel that we are worth very little. Many times we look for our worth in these temporary things or in other people’s opinions of us.
Fortunately, we have more than this life to sustain us. God provides more than just what we need physically. He strengthens our hearts and walks with us, even during the difficult times.
He has told us and shown us how much he loves us and sees us—in his Word and by sending his only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins in our place.
He loves us in a personal and intimate way. Not for anything we can do, but simply for who we are. If he knows the hairs on our heads, he certainly knows the desires of our hearts, of our pain and sorrow, of our needs and weaknesses.
He has called us to the situations we are in, with the people around us, for a particular reason. He knows our specifics and has plans beyond what we can see.
Think about a friend God brought into your life at a particular time just when you needed them or a time when God provided for your needs in an unexpected way. Focus on how God loves you in particular.
If you struggle with seeing God as loving you deeply and caring for every detail of your life, meditate on Scriptures that show God as the good shepherd and ask him to reveal this part of himself to you.
Because he never gets tired. He never runs out of resources.
When we go through difficult times, it can be hard to trust God for a solution we can’t see. But his Word promises he will sustain us. And we can tie the anchors of our hearts to this hope during the blowing storms of life.
Dear Father, thank you for loving us in such a personal way and for having unique plans for each of us. Thank you for your personal, individual love and care for us. Remind us that we can come to you for anything. Your love for us is far more than we can ever imagine. Let us feel your presence in our daily lives and catch a glimpse of how much you love us. Let us rest in being beloved by you.
Amen.
