Does God really care? Not only does God care for this world, but he is also genuinely interested in each one of us.

The Bible is full of beautiful passages that illustrate God’s great concern for what happens in the world and your life.

• “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (Psalm 147:4). Wow! Some estimate that there are 70 sextillion stars in the universe. That’s ten times the number of grains of sand on the earth. And God calls each by name!
• Jesus said, “The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7). I don’t notice when a few of my hairs make their way to the shower drain, but God does! He doesn’t just care about the big stuff but thinks about everything, down to the smallest detail.

Take a minute to brainstorm one or two other passages or truths from the Bible that show God is interested in what happens in the world.

It’s important to see the big picture

Job is an excellent example of the importance of seeing the big picture when talking about this topic. Job suffered greatly, but the conclusions he and his “friends” came to were flawed because of their lack of perspective. God said to Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” (Job 38:4) and then went on to illustrate how Job (or we for that matter!) could not possibly comprehend all that God does every day for us.

We need to see the big picture. This world will pass away. In love, Jesus gives us the signs of the end of the world in Matthew chapter 24 and explains what he wants suffering to produce at times in Luke chapter 13.

Read Matthew 24:3-14 and Luke 13:1-9.

Explain how knowing these things helps us to deal with suffering in the world and our lives.

Be ready with the reason for the hope you have

1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” God carefully created Adam and Eve. He continues to knit us together in our mothers’ wombs. God promised a Savior and carefully governed all of world history to bring Jesus into this world at exactly the right time to die for our sins. After the flood, God promised never again to destroy the world with a flood but instead promised that seasons and day and night would never cease. Does this sound like a God who is not interested in our lives? No!

Read Matthew 6:25-34; John 14:1,2; Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 4:15; and Revelation 21:4.

A coworker says, “God seems like he’s a million miles away right now. He doesn’t care about what I’m going through!”

How would you respond?

Author: David Scharf
Volume 107, Number 09
Issue: September 2020