Of Sparrows and Sovereignty

The God who spoke the universe into being gave me a gift today, through His word and through His creation.  It's a gift worth sharing, that I hope will be as encouraging to you as it was to me.  To bring you along through the journey that I took this morning might make this post longer than I would like, but hopefully, it'll be worth it.

Recently, I've been working through a list of passages in the Bible that declare the truth of God's sovereignty.  This list has been helping me to remember and lean on what is true about God, instead of leaning on my own understanding.  The two passages that I read this morning are seemingly unrelated in context and content, yet for me, on this day, they were familiar passages woven together in a completely new and miraculous way.

The first was Isaiah 46:9-10, "Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.' "

This was a powerful reminder that God is in control, that He alone knows the end from the beginning, and that His purposes WILL be accomplished.  In context, this passage alludes to Cyrus, the pagan ruler that would not be born for another 150 years, but that God would use to deliver His people, and it reminded me that no ruler or government can thwart God's will...not even the president of Haiti.  I came away from this passage with a properly aligned perspective of my big, holy, powerful, sovereign God who knows and controls things far beyond my limited and sinful understanding.

The next passage on the list was Matthew 10:29-30, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?  And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

For some reason, this instantly spoke to me of my two "sparrows" in Haiti and I was overwhelmed by God's intimate knowledge and providence for all creatures, including the smallest and seemingly insignificant.  In Jesus' day, sparrows were so insignificant that one alone had no value, only two of them together were valuable enough to be worth a penny.  By the world's standards, the poor and fatherless in Haiti (or any country) are often considered to be insignificant, of little value...but not in God's economy.

Matthew Henry's 18th century words brought home this message to my heart this morning.  "Verse 30 shows the account that God takes and keeps of all the concerns of all his people, even of those who are least regarded and of least consequence.  If God numbers their hairs, then how much more does he number their heads, taking care of their lives, their comforts, and their souls?"

So, there I sat in my living room, reminded that my God is greater, stronger, higher than any other and that His power far exceeds any human authority and then, in the next moment, He stooped down and whispered to my heart, "I see them, I know them, I've numbered the hairs on their beautiful brown heads, and I will provide and care for them as only I can.  Do not fear for your sparrows, they can not fall and skin their knee without my knowing about it.  They are more precious to me than you can imagine. I am God and I am taking care of their every need."

Oh, the comfort that God's timeless and yet very personal words brought to me this morning.  This is our God.  Holy, sovereign, powerful...and tender, gentle, loving, reassuring.  And as if those truths weren't gift enough, a little while later, in the midst of grammar, spelling and fractions, I looked out to see not one, but two, sparrows sitting on the tree branch just outside our window.  A priceless and unforgettable moment on this journey...