“In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” -Job 12:10
You are a member of the human race. That numbers you as one mere person among a vast cloud of innumerable people constituting an entire population which includes every era from Adam and Eve to the present and on to the last birth in history. Can you imagine this multi-everything human family? Not only all who ever took a breath of air, cradle to grave, but also those nearly numberless conceived beings aborted, miscarried, or dying in the womb? This is an inconceivable number!
So many, in fact, it is impossible not to consider there will be many of these who, if it were possible, would easily fall through the cracks of significance; the obscure, the unnoticed, those so inconsequential they will be remembered by none.
Think, for example, of those people who died in battle among thousands of others on a fatal invasion beach, drowned in the sea before reaching land, were vaporized in some explosion, were simply left to die in a marsh or jungle, or died alone and were never found. There are millions of all ages who die of malnutrition or disease. Some children run away to never be searched for by a loved one. The situations number in the multimillions of those who ceased breathing devoid of anyone’s knowledge. Did these obscure deaths really matter?
Yet, being so finite, not only can you not fully imagine the size and perspective of this innumerable crowd of folk, but is contemplating this even important to you? How does meditation on this idea really impact you or your wellbeing? Why would you bother to even think deeply about it?
Well, while this may be unimportant to you, it is seriously important to the One who made each one! His acquaintance with each peculiar person also gives you your own significance. You are not garbage! You are not unknown. You are not trivial. But your value, your personality, your life only has value because you matter to Him. Your identity is rooted in the God who is and who knows and who created.
The eternal significance of each and every person, from the littlest to the greatest, rests in the infinite mind and heart of God. No one dies at any age unnoticed by Him, from the miscarried to the centenarian, from those who die all alone to those who die surrounded by a crowd of loved ones. Of the myriads of individuals who have lived in every place, on every continent, in poverty and wealth, in sickness and health, none are invisible to the personal Almighty God. This truth is truly beyond me! I am really too finite to bring this into meaningful focus.
In our finite nature, we do not fully comprehend it. It escapes special notice. It is not a point of imagination; it is simply unappreciated. Yet the Bible tells us it is true. In certainty, each and every soul who ever lived and died will one day stand before God at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and all will be separated into “sheep or goats” (Matthew 25).
The actual salvation status of every person lies entirely in the hands of God, who reads all men’s hearts and situations. He knows whether or not you are “in Christ,” and God is thoroughly just in every case.
I believe this is still worthy of your meditation and specific thought, and it is also worthy of your praise of the One who rules over each one whom He has uniquely formed. Each owes their being to the One who created them in His image, with no individual choice involved in their creation. They are simply because He chose to create them for His own glory. Each finds their being, significance, value, and identity alone in the One who called them to be.
This is the point. You are not refuse! You are individually significant and will not be forgotten. It is hard to imagine when there is such a vast number, but so it is. Will you come to know individually in eternity each one who has been created and enters eternal life? I rather think so because time is no factor. Eternal life is beyond anything we can think or imagine.
The truth to cling to is God knows you, and He will never leave you or forsake you. You are significant even though you are one among an innumerably vast family. This invokes you to search Him out in earnest, to come to know Him as He directs, through His Son, for knowing Him is life eternal (John 17:3).
“There’s not a plant or flower below but makes Your glories known, and clouds arise and tempests blow by order from Your throne; while all that borrows life from You is ever in Your care, and everywhere that man can be, You, God, are present there.”
(Third verse of Isaac Watt’s hymn, “I Sing the Almighty Power of God,” 1715)
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