by John Grant
“Then Job answered the Lord, and said, ‘Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.‘” Job 40:3-4
Recently I was in Allendale County, South Carolina. Statistically, it is the poorest county in the state. Unemployment is nearly fifty percent. Almost ninety percent of the county is dependent on government assistance for survival. For the most part only a prison, a lumber mill and seasonal hunting provide jobs. Its population is among the poorest of the poor.
It is easy to write these people off as being insignificant, but they are not. God created every one of them for a reason, a purpose and a mission. There are no insignificant people in God’s eyes… and no favored ones either.
Job realized that, in the grand scheme of things, he was a “little” person. He was nothing. And yet, I have to imagine that, right on the heels of that realization came this one: But God Himself showed up to talk to ME! Job, this little “nothing,” called on the God who made the universe . . . and that great God heard him and came running.
God loves the “little” people. In fact, in His kingdom, there are no “little” people. Every single person is important in God’s eyes. Heaven is not built on a hierarchy. That’s why Jesus told the people in His day that even the sparrows—which they counted as meaningless and cheap—were important to God. And if the sparrows didn’t fail to escape His notice, how much more does He care about those who are made in His own image!
In the grand scheme of the universe, our planet is a speck. And that makes each one of us a speck on a speck. Yet our great God also became a speck on a speck so we would know that, to Him, we are not insignificant. We are not vile. We are infinitely valuable.
Yes we are and I stood on a street corner in that little poor town watching the homeless and the unemployed, the human in me wanted to be judgmental and I had some feeling of superiority.
But then the steeple bills of a nearby church began their everyday at five routine of playing a few minutes of hymns. On this day as I stood there, the bells tolled out “This is my Father’s world.”
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done: Jesus Who died shall be satisfied, And earth and Heav’n be one. Yes, this is His world and there are no little people in it.
(a thought on life from John Grant)
You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/03/04/jg_god-and-little-people/
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
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