Hitting "Send" is the precarious part of any post -- especially when I'm battling the clock. That was the case recently when I sent this line to cyberspace:
"Goals that are truly worthy of our life are kingdom-sized goals that will never be completely achieve during our lifetime."
You know the problem with email don't you? Once it's out of the gate, you cannot get it back. It is like a wild stallion in a vast prairie. You are not going to catch it. No sooner did I launch my post than I realized I failed to add a "d" to "achieve."
Minor? Maybe, but as the saying goes: "The devil is in the details."
At least that is what I thought -- until I looked at that idiom from a different perspective. Then I realized the devil is not "in the details," God is.
I got a fresh glimpse of God's passion for details reading Ravi Zacharias' book, Jesus Among Other Gods. Ravi writes:
In eighteen milliliters of water (about two swallows full), there are about 6 x 1023 molecules of H2O. How much is 6 x 1023? A good computer can carry out ten million counts per second. It would take that computer two billion years to count to 6 x 1023.
Look at it another way. A stack of five hundred sheets of paper is two to three inches high. How high would the stack be if it had 6 x 1023 sheets? That stack would reach from the earth to the sun, not once, but more than one million times.
Yet, in two gulps of water, God has packed that many molecules. The miracle of walking on water is small for Him who created it in the first place.
Yes, God is in the details. He stuffs millions and millions of molecules into a meager eighteen milliliters of water, but he doesn't stop there. He gives names to every star in the heavens (Psalm 147:4). He keeps track of every fallen sparrow (Matthew 10:29). And when it comes to you he does better than that: He numbers the hairs of your head (Matthew 10:30), he has a bottle and a book to catch and record your tears (Psalm 56:8), he knows every word on your tongue (Psalm 139:4), and he orders your steps (Psalm 37:23).
God is the master of detail. He writes unique scripts in every strand of DNA. He draws fresh lines in every fingerprint. He uses a mosaic of colors in every personality. He does this because he is God. He does this because he loves you. His attention to the details of your design is your proof.
Don't let your sense of wonder wander. Gather up all that awe and direct it toward the One to whom it belongs. Praise him. Proclaim him. Call on him for help.
“You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.”
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1. "In eighteen milliliters of water..." from Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000, pages 80-81.
2. "bottle and a book" from Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume (824). Peabody: Hendrickson.