Thought of, Known, and Valued

Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, you are more valuable than many sparrows. Luke 12:6,7

We come into this world with many needs and this passage expresses three of them. We want to be thought of, known intimately, and valued. When those areas are met through loving parents it is easier to digest the fact that God feels that way toward us. But some of us lived with deprivation in one or more of those areas and it took years to realize God is different than our parents.

For me personally, the deprivation came because of alcoholism in our home. I would tell you to this day I was very close to my mom and had a special relationship with her. I cannot say the same thing about my dad. Nonetheless, in both cases they drank. My dad had a drinking problem throughout my life and my mom had a drinking problem during my pre-teen, teen, and young adult life. To this day I can remember the feelings of neglect and loneliness. There is no way for a child or even an adult to compete with “the bottle.”

I did not realize until recently that those same feelings carried over into my perception about God. They manifested themselves in feelings of being lost in a crowd, unknown, and not at all valued. The fact that God loved me was a generic, one-size fits all theology. I failed to see the preciousness of the truth of His love for myself. My soul craved more than what felt like empty words to me. After all, my parents said they loved me.

The change? It came as God introduced me to people who taught me what God’s love really looks and feels like and it came through seeing Scripture in a whole new light. The book of Psalms is filled with verses that tell me God delights in me. Zephaniah tells me God sings over me. Isaiah tells me God loves me so much He has inscribed me on the palms of His hands. My eyes get misty just reviewing these precious truths that have finally helped me see my heavenly Father in the right way.

Father, now when You say You love me it meets the deepest needs in my life. I no longer feel lost, lonely, or forgotten by You. Amen.