God... big and small!

Tonight our youth pastor Jason did an amazing job of describing how awesome the God we serve really is. He began with something he knew the youth (and I) have heard a lot, "Almighty God loves you and has a plan for your life." He said tonight he wanted to help us see exactly how true that is and how God has placed His fingerprints on everything throughout the universe, all bringing glory to Himself. Just seeing the snow fall yesterday and the leaves turn from green to yellow to brown and then fall to the ground a few weeks before that, it all really takes more "faith" to think it happens coincidentally than the simple faith of believing that God really did create it and controls it all.

We can clearly see this world all around us, but Jason showed this picture of the Whirlpool Galaxy to explain that God displays His love for us to the far ends of the universe. His love was first perfectly displayed when Christ died for us on a cross.



Wikipedia lists this description, "The nucleus of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). The Cross marks the location of the black hole at the center of the galaxy. The cross was first interpreted as two dust rings circling the nucleus. It was later determined to simply be foreground dust lanes silhouetted by the active nucleus. Bright ionization cones can be seen extending perpendicular to the largest dust feature." The photograph was taken by the Hubble Telescope.

Jason then spoke about how people can believe God on the big things, but not find peace in the little things in life. Jason used an inspiring video clip to demonstrate the degree of miniscule detail the Lord went to in creating us as humans. Our physical make-up comes back to the Cross by the basic "glue" which holds all of our bodies together, a protein called laminine. Here is a picture of the laminine molecule.



Wikipedia says this about laminine, "a protein found in the extracellular matrix, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the basement membrane. It is the major non-collagenous component of the basal lamina, such as those on which cells of an epithelium (a tissue composed of cells that line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body) sit."

I have not done Jason's message to the youth any justice as it brought me to tears thinking about how I let petty things of this busy life distract me from the Lord's majesty. If I focused on how amazing He is and miraculously loves me unconditionally to a degree I'll never understand, not a thing in this world should be able to pull me away from a constant state of worshiping Him.

I praise Him for my husband and children and yet they are whom I lose my temper with most often. I praise Him for my home and the opportunity to stay home with Philip and Braewyn and yet I get frustrated with all the cleaning and upkeep it requires. I praise Him for saving my soul by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and yet I rarely tell others how much He loves them and that He died for them too.

Jason said God uses every single thing to bring glory to Himself. Every single thing except one thing... your heart. God allowed our hearts to be left to our decision, whether to bring glory to Him or to seek to please only ourselves. Oh how so very, very thankful I am to have chosen to follow Him and experienced the multitude of blessings He has poured out on me.