Seeing Her Picture

With the death of my father-in-law and a saint from one of my churches as well, it has been difficult finding time to write. Father, bless my efforts as we come together, for Your glory. Amen.

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There seem to have been multiple tragedies in the last few weeks. Lord, You know I’ve had my share. But one that has touched my heart recently was the death of an 11-year-old child in a northwest suburb of the Columbus metro area. She and her mother were on their way to drop this 6^th Grader off at school when they somehow collided with a semi – I have no idea how it happened or who was at fault. Regardless, it is heart-wrenching!

It’s bad enough to read of the incident, but early this morning a friend of mine posted a GoFundMe page to help the child’s family. As of this writing, they have more than tripled their goal! It is a great blessing for her family, but nothing compared to their loss…

But what impacted me most today was seeing her picture – a beautiful young lady whose life came to an end much too prematurely. Before this morning, I didn’t even know her name, much less know what she looked like. But that picture…

It’s way too easy in life to shrug off tragedy. We read a headline (and it seems like every headline from the one TV station I follow speaks of death – shootings, accidents, and the like…). We read a headline and they are so frequent that we hardly think twice about the people involved. But every single one of them are real people in real-life situations.

But here is the hope, when hope is to be found nowhere else.

God sees us one and all. He knows our name. He knows what we look like, for He created us. He knows us intimately!

Do you remember the passage of Scripture where Jesus was speaking with the disciples? He was telling them not to be afraid and He asked them,

What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Matthew 10:29,31 NLT

In today’s workplace in the state of Ohio, the minimum wage is $10.10 an hour. If you worked eight hours, that would earn you $80.80 (before taxes of course!) The copper coin Jesus referenced equaled 1/16 of a day’s wages. So, doing the math, two sparrows would cost you $5.05.

If God cares if a single sparrow falls to the ground, He cares infinitely more when we do.

Elia. Her name was Elia. God knew Elia and He knew, and He cared that she fell.

Don’t feel worthless. No matter how small or insignificant you may feel, God knows you and cares about You. Call out to Him today…He will hear, and He will answer.

Apr 4^th, 2023, Thurs, 12:50 pm