Insignificant and Special

Some of you probably wonder if I just quit writing and gave up my blog.  Definitely not. My hubby and I just returned from a 10-day trip to Greece!  To say it was incredible would be a huge understatement.

The first island of Santorini was definitely our favorite.  Our hotel was literally built into the side of a mountain where a volcano erupted.  It juts out into the middle of the Aegean Sea.  Just seeing the sparkling crystal clear blue water, the layers of sediment in the volcanic rock, and just the beauty of sunrises and sunsets reminded me of how amazing and creative our God truly is.

But even more than that, while we were on two Greek islands and in the city of Athens, we saw and passed numerous people. I love to people watch! At one outdoor restaurant in Athens, I counted 11 languages on the menu!  I truly believe we heard at least 7-8 different dialects and languages while we were there.  Who knew that Greece was the honeymoon capital?  Apparently, it is a popular location for many honeymooners in Europe, but the US as well.  On the polar opposite of that, we took this trip to celebrate our 30-year anniversary (it was last year…just a little delay due to Covid).

But in seeing so many distinct nationalities and people, hearing so many different languages and seeing such beauty on the other side of the world, it made me stop and realize how big the world truly is, but even more so, how Big our God is. 

As we sat outside to eat or just gazed at people as we were walking/looking in shops, I was struck by how many different countries were represented.  We all looked so different, but yet we were so similar.  We talked to so many native Greeks, as well as Americans and people from France, Australia, England, Switzerland and Germany…to name a few.

I felt so small and insignificant.

I remember walking a busy street one day in the “Old Town” of Fira, lined with crowds.  Thoughts raced in my head…and questions were raised to God as we walked and observed.

How could God keep up with this many people? 

How does He hear my prayers?  The prayers of these people I’m passing?

How could I matter to anyone?  Wasn’t I just a number?

But at the same moment that I felt small, insignificant and just a speck on this massive planet,

I also felt important, special and loved.

Even with all the people we saw, even among the thousands, I truly believe God knows my name.  I know He knows how many hairs are on my head. Or how many I’m losing at this stage of life!  Ugh.

When I remember that I’m a child of His, I am drawn to Him even more….and humbled to personally know the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Even with the world being so huge and so full of people, somehow God knows ME…little ole ME.  But friend, He knows you as well if you have accepted His Son, Jesus, as your Savior into your heart and life.

I believe He pursues every person who has ever lived, whether they were as blessed as me to grow up in the USA with loving parents or whether they were in some remote village that hardly heard the name of Jesus.  God, in His Sovereignty and in His Omniscience figures all that out. I trust that and believe it.

Two verses I leave you with today that underscore my thoughts:

James 4:14 NIV – Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Psalm 103:15 NLT – Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

Psalm 139 NIV – O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.  You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there….

verse 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Isaiah 43: 1-3 NIV But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’

I hope these verses remind you that our life here on this earth is fleeting and truly a vapor.  We are specks in a microcosm of millions of specks who may look different and talk differently, but yet on some level, we are all the same.  We all have the need to be loved; we all have the need to feel apart; we all have the need to be significant to someone and for our life to matter and count.

Only by belonging to God, through His Son, Jesus, is this truth made possible.

These verses came to mind when I was in Greece, feeling insignificant, but also loved and special all at the same time!!  Oh, what an incredible blessing!  Just the Lord bringing all this to my feeble mind made me relish our trip to the other side of the world even more.

Wherever you are today and whatever you’re doing, remember YOU are important to God.  He knows you by name.  You are loved!  Make your life count for Him!