Every Little Thing

Every Little Thing

“Jesus loves me, this I know,” I used to sing. “For the Bible tells me so.” It did. It still does. But love is communicated in myriad ways and must be recognized, received, and attended to in order to grow.

Not many mornings ago, I saw an array of clouds spread and layered across the sky in a pattern I’d never witnessed before. I thought, How giving and good you are, God, that you could surprise me on an ordinary morning through clouds, in a way that makes me feel afresh your love for me.

Don’t get me wrong. He’s done plenty of big stuff—cosmic, eternity-altering stuff—for all of us. But it’s the little things that testify he always meant to love me and keeps on loving me still.

It’s the phrase I stumbled upon in a children’s book that echoed the exact words resonating in my heart the day before. It’s the kindness of the clinician who held my hand longer than just a quick squeeze when he saw I wasn’t hurt but still anxious and unsure. It’s the ready forgiveness of a friend whose birthday I forgot, even though she always remembers mine. It’s the unexpected answers to those seemingly impossible prayers that arrive just in time and yes, sometimes oddly packaged. And it’s the blessing of waking in the wee hours of the morning with the sense that all will be well, even if—in the moment—it is not.

I need the promises of God that remind me of his great love for me. I need his Word to “tell me so” and to keep on telling me over and over again. I rely on it. I believe it. I have staked my life on its claims. But every little thing he does affirms that my God loves me. Every little thing he does is good for my soul, somehow. Every little thing he does keeps on echoing the truth of his precious, precious Word. Every. Little. Thing.

Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.

Psalm 65:4, NASB