How Important Are You? - April 5, 2022

Think how important you would feel if someone told you the issues of your life are their number one priority and they will be paying attention to every detail, small or large. This is exactly how important we are to God.

“Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession.”

- Deuteronomy 14:2

It’s so difficult for my human mind to imagine that God doesn’t have better things to do, like preventing wars, to be concerned with my aches and pains or whether or not I can balance my checkbook this month. I remember when my mother was with us and struggled with arthritis. She asked God to make sure she got a parking spot close to the entrance of the grocery store. He came through every time. I was really struck by that. My mother was a devout Catholic and a prayerful and deeply spiritual woman. Her approach changed my thinking about prayer, at least about those things. If she thought praying for a parking spot was important to God, then so could I. What else was I missing praying about?

I’ve always prayed for what I consider to be the big ask – Healing. Physical healing. Emotional healing. Healing of pain of all kinds, whether it’s cancer, addiction, abuse or any other form of suffering. When I go down my list over the years and think about how many times I’ve asked for these healings, I guess I thought I had asked enough.

This is not how God works! He wants us to come to Him with everything. We’re commanded to “bring everything to God in prayer.” That means the little things as well as the big things. In Thessalonians, we are told to “pray without ceasing.” God wants to hear from us. All the time. “Even the hairs on our heads are numbered” as we hear in Luke. That’s some pretty specific stuff. We are loved and we are cared for.

"I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing." -Chris Tomlin

In John, Chapter 15, Jesus calls us “friends.” Imagine, the creator of the universe wants to be our friend! I don’t know about you, but I have been known to talk to my friends for an hour on the phone without missing a beat. Okay, maybe more than an hour. Yes, we discuss the challenges in our lives but we also talk about the second season of “Bridgerton” and the latest novel by Elin Hilderbrand. How many times have you met a friend for lunch and when you looked up, saw that that you had been talking so long that now the restaurant was closing? Friendship is such a comforting part of life.

Jesus longs to have a friendship with us. He wants us to come to Him with our big asks but He also wants to hear about everything else that matters to us. Our joy in a perfect blue sky day (like today) and our sincere request to stop those annoying spam calls! If you can talk about it with a friend, you can talk about it to Jesus.

Perhaps I better warn Him that I’ve got a lot of projects in the works so He can find a comfortable spot to listen to all my schemes and ramblings. Something tells me He’ll enjoy every minute.