God Is In The Details

Someone coined the phrase, “The Devil’s in the details,” but I believe without a doubt it is God who is in the details!  Occasionally we get the privilege of getting to see how God has orchestrated the details in the events of our lives to accomplish His purpose. When we see how He puts the right people in the right place at the right time, there is no doubt that God was in it all. The Bible is full of examples of God at work.  As my wife would put it, “It’s His-story.”  For instance, just think about what it took for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem as Micah 5:2 had prophesied, or that He be scourged and crucified among thieves and buried in a rich man’s tomb, all of which had been foretold hundreds of years before.  Think of how Jesus’ virgin birth avoided a curse that God placed centuries before on the household of King Jeconiah stating that none of his physical descendants would get to reign over Israel (Jer. 2:24-30). Joseph’s lineage went back to David through Jeconiah (Mt. 1:11). Mary’s ancestry also went back to David, but not through Jeconiah. God always works out all the details to make sure every one of His prophecies and His purposes is fulfilled, right down to the tiniest of matters. According to the laws of probability, it would require 200 billion earths, populated with four billion people each, to come up with one person whose life would fulfill 100 accurate prophecies without any errors in sequence. Yet the Scriptures record not 100, but more than 300 prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ’s first coming alone!

     The same God who was in the details of Christ’s coming and His mission of dying for sin, is at work in each of our lives. So often we are even unaware of His “behind-the-scenes” work, but as we become more and more sensitive to His presence and His working, we see His hand more and more, for He is at work in and through us to accomplish His purpose and to glorify His name. The Apostle Paul wrote this to the Philippian believers: “…it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).  The author of the Book of Hebrews, wrote in his concluding benediction, “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20,21). 
     Not only is God at work in the details of our lives, but also all around us are tiny details of His handiwork. Since spring comes a bit late here in northwest Montana, we are just at the peak of our spring flowers season. We have quite a large vegetable garden and it is bordered by a variety of narcissus and tulips–mostly narcissus (daffodils), since the deer love tulips but the daffodils are poisonous to them. We also have some beautiful crown imperials which grow about three feet tall with cascading orange blossoms on a top that looks like a crown with jewels. Our bleeding heart is also in full bloom and our fruit trees are just starting to blossom. As we went for a walk yesterday, I had my camera along, and was stopping frequently to take pictures of shooting stars, Oregon grape, star flowers and a variety of other spring wild flowers. I happened to be lying on my side taking a close-up of some shooting stars when a lady walked by and wondered what in the world I was doing. We showed her the beautiful shooting stars and she commented that they were the first ones she had seen. We were on a walking path that makes about a mile and a half loop and she was on her second lap. All along the path were literally thousands of these flowers and she hadn’t noticed them until she saw me taking a picture of them!  Unfortunately so many people are going through life missing all the beauty of God’s handiwork, and never stopping to admire His work and give Him the glory for the great things He has done. I guess since I enjoy photography, we may watch more for those details, the frost framing the outline of some alder leaves on the ground, drops of water on the rose petals from a recent rain, a tiny iridescent beetle crawling across the sidewalk, or the amazing motions of the hummingbird as it hovers at the feeder. God’s world is just full of details, but so many never stop to notice. Paul said, “God…richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (I Tim. 6:17).  And as we enjoy them, and give credit to the One who made them, we are worshiping and bringing glory to Him.
     Don’t get so busy in life that you miss what God is doing and what He has made. We serve an awesome God who had made amazing things, and wondrously works out the details of our lives. Don’t miss it all!  Stop and smell the roses, take note of what God is doing and praise Him for it all. “Searching for God’s design is the source of true art and science” (Albert Einstein).
 
                                                            Forever His,
                                                                    Pastor Dave
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About Pastor Dave

Until my retirement 2 years ago, I pastored an independent Bible church in Northwest Montana for nearly 38 years. During that time I also helped establish a Christian school, and a Bible Camp. I am married and have children and grandchildren. The Wisdom of the Week devotional is an outgrowth of my desire to share what God is doing in my life and in our world, and to challenge you to be a part.
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