CHRISTIAN VOICE

Matthew 10:29-31
(29) Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. (30) But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (31) Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
New King James Version

Many of us have read over this astounding statement and not considered what it implies.

How many sparrows are there in the world? There are just 35 different species of true sparrows or Old World sparrows worldwide, and many other species—mostly finches—are similar. But no one really knows how many of them there are; they are estimated to number in the multiple billions. Some individual flocks are thought to contain as many as 20 million birds! Nobody takes care of sparrows as God does! He keeps track of each one and either causes or passes on each bird's death. Men do not have minds that can keep track of such "insignificant" details, but God does—and He does not consider such information trivial.

By the way, this answers the old philosophical question: "If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" The answer is "yes" because God hears it just as He knows every sparrow that falls to the ground.

And we think that He sometimes ignores us! As Jesus goes on to say, "Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:31). This is a classic understatement. God has called each of us to be His very son or daughter and to rule with Him over the universe for eternity, and we think that He fails to keep track of us? Unlike His care of sparrows, He does not just cause or pass on our deaths—He causes or passes on everything we do and that is done to us. We have no valid reason to doubt His watchful care over us.

Jesus informs us in Matthew 10:30 that "the very hairs of your head are all numbered." This, too, is flooring! Have we ever wondered how many hairs we have on our heads? Encyclopedia Britannica found a hair expert to estimate it: "On a human head, the average total number of hairs is between 100,000 and 150,000." For those of us who are losing ours, the figure is, of course, much lower, but many others with full heads of hair more than make up the deficit. To be conservative, we can say that the average head holds 120,000 hairs.

If we are to believe Scripture—and we do—God has numbered them all. We should add in the fact that the average person loses about 70 hairs each day. Some fall out, some break, and new ones are replacing them all the time. So not only does God have our hairs numbered, but He is also aware of the plus or minus 70 hairs we lose every day.

At this point, we probably feel rather small compared to God, and we should feel insignificant and unworthy in His presence. It is vital for us to see the incredible difference between God and us, for only when we see Him in this proper perspective can we truly say that we know the true God and truly appreciate Him and His care for us. If we do not see ourselves as a little speck of inconsequentiality compared to Him, we are not getting the right picture. He is everything; we are nothing. Unless we do not realize and acknowledge this, we have too much pride. We are puffing ourselves up (see I Corinthians 4:18; 5:2).

— Richard T. Ritenbaugh

CHRISTIAN VOICES  
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“Published for 27 years”
 
July 2, 2023

HUMOR
              
PLAYPEN
 
Mary Simpson was almost crazy with her three kids. She complained to her best friend, "They're driving me nuts. Such pests, they give me no rest and I'm half-way to the nut hatch."
 
"What you need is a playpen to separate the kids from yourself," her friend said.
 
So Mary bought a playpen. A few days later, her friend called to ask how things were going.
 
"Superb! I can't believe it," Mary said. "I get in that pen with a good book and the kids don't bother me one bit!"
 
……Patricia Kaine (docsdailychuckle@welovegod.org) by way of ‘Christian Voices’ (christianvoices@att.net)
 
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GOD HAS A PLAN

If you ever wonder why bad things happen to people you know--illness, accidents, job loss? Perhaps some of these things have happened to you. When going through dire circumstances, the human thing to do is ask, Why me? Where is God? I’m a good person. I try to live the right way and treat others with kindness. What have I ever done to deserve this?

I’m sure we have all experienced some of these thoughts at one time or another and we are not alone.


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The Bible has stories of people who could well have asked the same things. This past weekend,
our church presented a musical on the life of Queen Esther. Here was a beautiful young orphan who was taken from her guardian to be a possible candidate to replace the banished queen of King Xerxes. Not only was she chosen for the position but soon afterward was on a death list thanks to a jealous prime minister who hated the Jewish people. She was warned by Mordecai, her former guardian, that unless she went to the king and disclosed her Jewish heritage, all people from Israel including herself would die. She was caught in a difficult position as no one was to go to the king without being summoned. The law of the land stated that anyone doing so would die. I’m sure Esther a sked herself, the why questions. But after prayer and fasting, she determined to take a chance and hopefully save her people from annihilation. God had put her in that place for such a time as that. (Esther 4:14) It was all part of His glorious plan.

Joseph was another example of bad things happening to innocent souls.

As his father’s favorite son, he wore a colorful coat and boldly told his eleven brothers of dreams he had where they bowed down to him. As a result, hatred and jealousy ensnared their hearts and they plotted to kill the braggart. Instead, at the insistence of Judah, they sold him into slavery.

He ended up in Egypt in charge of the household of Potiphar. Joseph loved his God and as a man of integrity refused to be tempted to dishonor his heavenly Father by sleeping with his master’s wife. Consequently, he ended up in prison where he stayed for at least three years. He too must have asked “Why?”

Sometime later, he interpreted Pharoah’s dreams and was placed as second in command in Egypt where he oversaw the storage of grain that would save many lives during a long, seven-year famine. His own brothers came from Canaan to buy food as they too were in danger of starvation. When at last, Joseph revealed his identity to them, he told them not to be afraid. They had meant him harm, but it actually was God who brought him to Egypt in order to preserve the Jewish nation. (Exodus 50:20) God’s plan was being carried out through the trials and tribulations of his chosen vessels.

Perhaps we need to look at our misfortunes in a different light. Knowing God is always with us, we can know that He is involved in whatever happens to us. He has promised to work all things out for good to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) It may not be easy, but God never fails and is always faithful to His word. Looking at trials, tribulations and testing through new eyes may help ease the pain and remind us that there is hope when God is in control.

……Pat Earl (brian.earl@sympatico.ca) by way of ‘Christian Voices’ (christianvoices@att.net)

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