There could be no doubt in anyone's mind who's ever been there that New York City is a vast and very complex entity. Not many of us are cell biologists, but it is likely that we could take the word of  Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling, regarding cells: "One living cell in the human body is more complex than New York City." That's just one tiny, microscopic cell - among the trillions in the human body, mind you. And that's just considering its structure. It is alive! Our top scientists are not able to fathom the mystery of life! Far to the other end of the spectrum of complexities are the galaxies beyond galaxies beyond galaxies.

By the cross of Jesus, the righteous decrees of God against us - for our rebellion against His authority as our Creator - were abolished. Jesus fulfilled God's Law for mankind perfectly – not for Himself, but for us. By His solitarily sinless life, its demands were met and satisfied, such that it had no more claims it could ask. By His own crucified flesh, as He offered Himself as our substitute for the punishment we deserved (of eternal separation from God, our Father), the enmity between us and God was annulled, the hostile dividing wall between us was broken.  The apostle Paul wrote that Christ Jesus did this so that “He from the two might create in Himself one new man.” (Ephesians 2:15)

Consider this: that God knew us - perfectly - long before we had the slightest knowledge of Him. “You formed my inward parts, You knit me together in my mother’s womb…Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect, and in Your book all the days of my life were written, before ever they took shape, when as yet there were none of them.” (Psalm 139: 13, 16) Before we existed in this world, we existed in God’s heart!

Does God love only good people? Do we have to be a certain kind of person for God to love us? Do I have to first get straightened up, attain some evasive high standard of character before He could love me?  The answer is an emphatic “No!”

Many of our difficulties and sorrows in life have come to us because we have chosen our own path, done our own will, rather than seeking God’s will for our lives. Long ago the wise leader, Moses, exhorted the Israelites to stand still and “hear what the Lord will command concerning you.” (Numbers 9:8)  Hearing His commands (and obeying that voice that speaks in your heart) is the secret to a blessed life.

We hardly notice sparrows. The death of a single sparrow would likely be too trifling for us to note. And yet Jesus said that even seemingly so insignificant an occurrence as a sparrow’s falling to the ground is a thing of which God takes account. (Matthew 10:29-31)  Not one sparrow can perish without the knowledge and consent of a loving Father. The Creator of the whole universe has a will regarding even one sparrow. God Himself is a participating presence, a God “who is there,” even in this tiny event in His world.