Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Doug Tritton, was first posted on June 17, 2015. A graduate of University of Pennsylvania (BA) and Gordon Conwell Seminary (M.Div.), Doug is the UC site pastor of Grace Covenant Church in Philadelphia.
Devotional Thought for This Morning
“Our God is a God of Details”
1 Kings 6:1-6
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. 4 And he made for the house windows with recessed frames. He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
When I come to these passages that detail the dimensions and specifications of a building or structure (such as the temple, tabernacle, or Noah’s ark), I often skim through them, thinking to myself that this is not important. I want to get to the stories—the commandments, the things that seem to actually matter to me.
However, God chose to include these passages in the Bible. If He did not want us to read about the exact details of these buildings, then God could have left them out. The reality is that God cares about details. Perhaps we liken God to a boss who immediately gets bored when you start talking in details. No, God cares about even the smallest of details, for Jesus says to us, “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matt. 10:30). We were woven by God in our mother’s womb, formed perfectly according to God’s unique specification for us, just like the temple was built uniquely to an exact specification.
What does this mean for us? This means that we can bring anything to God because He cares. He cares about every part of us, even up to the tiniest detail. God will not get bored with us and turn away, but He listens and He cares—this is who our God is. As much as God is infinitely transcendent and distinct from us, He is also infinitely immanent and near to us. He wants to get involved in every area of our lives, for we are His beloved children and He cares fully about us.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for being my Father in Heaven who formed me to be who I am according to Your perfect specification. Thank You for loving me fully, for loving every part of me. Let me never doubt the level to which You care for me, but rather believe that You care about every single area of my life. Help me to trust You with all I am and not keep You at distance. Let Your love go ever deeper in my life.
Bible Reading for Today: 1 Thessalonians
Lunch Break Study
Read Matthew 10:29-31: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Questions to Consider
1. What does it mean that “not one of [the sparrows] will fall to the ground apart from Your Father”?
2. Why should it comfort us that “even the hairs of your head are all numbered”?
3. Why should we not fear?
Notes
1. This passage is saying that God even sustains sparrows, and nothing can harm a sparrow apart from God’s will since He is the One who is in control. Not only sparrows, but everything is under God’s control. It’s because of His control that we can trust Him.
2. We often have a desire to truly be known by others. Sometimes we have friends who may know us so well that they know even our freckles and spots. But do they know each individual hair? God knows us so well that He recognizes every hair; more than that, He knows every emotion, hurt, tear, joy in our lives. We are fully known by God. How amazing is that!
3. God is in control and cares for sparrows. But praise be to God that we are worth more than sparrows in God’s eyes! If He even cares for sparrows, of course He will care for us! We can trust Him because He is completely and utterly in control. He will provide for us and sustain us, just as He sustains the creatures of this world.
Evening Reflection
Take time to reflect on the truth that you are fully known by God. He shaped you and formed you to be who you are. Let that truth comfort your soul, removing any fears you may have about your life and future. God is in control, worthy of all our trust. Pray for greater trust and dependence on God.