In case you haven't yet heard, tomorrow is Easter. Those three words excite me because of two other phrases of three words: "It is Finished" and "He is Risen". I could just stop writing now. Nothing I could ever write will ever be as good or as powerful or as beautiful as the story behind Easter. Nothing can compare to the fact that the Son of God said that the reason He could not stay in the grave was for me. I like how Gandhi says it, "A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act." It is, hands down, the greatest story to ever be told.
And from out of that story, comes many other stories. After all, Jesus was, and is, and is yet to come. Where He is, there's going to be great stories. Speaking of stories, I like to read them, or watch them, or hear them. I like thinking that everyday is just another page in my lifestory and that pages can be turned back and be turned forward (that's a whole different blog). I like stories.
But I am a terrible story-teller. I'm the girl who says with all the excitement in the world "I have to tell you this story" and then I start. And that's when you start asking yourself "what about this story had to be told?" You see, my problem is in the details. The problem being I don't remember them. I remember how whatever the story was made me feel, but I'm terrible at inviting the person I'm telling the story to into those feelings. Without the feelings and the ability to recall the details, my stories, needless to say, lack the luster of a story well told. This ladies and gentleman is why I never entered the story-telling contest in the fourth grade. I knew my limits.
But something that has been blowing my mind lately is the fact that God is a God who sees the end. He knows the last chapter of every story. He knows my story. He knows your story. He knows all the stories ever to be told because He is the author of each. But He doesn't just know the main events of the story- He knows every single detail. He doesn't just know the last chapter, He knows every line and punctuation mark that lead up to that chapter. He cares about every single detail. And no detail is too much for Him. (Excuse me, while, my heart has a party. It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...)
The best way that I can attempt to understand this is when I look at a picture of a person. I see the person and the moment captured. I can see whether they are smiling or not. Or if they were able to blow out all the candles on their birthday cake in the first breath. I can admire, or not admire, their clothing choices. I can pick up some of the details and I can fabricate the rest.
....Okay, just joking about the fabricating part. What I meant to say was that I am limited in my ability to grasp all the details. I see the picture in full, but I can't possibly know the full story behind the picture, or the moments that brought them to the picture. I can't know how many hairs are on their head or how many grains of sand that they are standing on (if the picture is at a beach of course), but my Jesus can and cares and does.
He's in the details. Nothing is too small or too big for Him. Seriously, who is like our God? The reason why I started thinking about this is the church I attend is having a huge Easter Celebration tomorrow that has required a lot of people to spend a lot of time thinking about the details. Last week, at Saturday Morning prayer, the pastor talked a little bit about those details. He gave the example that if we wanted to have a service with 10,000 people, how 10,000 pencils would be distributed to fill out offering envelopes or take notes would have to be considered. I'd say that's pretty detailed, but that could very likely just be me.
I know it may seem silly, but I haven't been able to get those pencils out of my mind. Because no one is going to see all that's going on tomorrow at the Easter service and be thinking "man, those pencils....", but God knows each hand those pencils are going to touch. He knows each stroke those pencils are going to write. It's a small detail, but it's a detail that leads to a greater story. Maybe those pencils will be used by someone to write down a prayer request that will lead to healing. Or to fill out an envelope that contains an offering to further advance the Kingdom of God. Maybe, just maybe, the pencil will be a utensil used as someone makes the decision that they are "coming home". And at the end of the day, no one is going to be thinking about the pencils. It's just a small detail that is easy to forget. But also at the end of the day, we can know that God was in each placement of those pencils. No detail is too small or mundane for Him.
King of Glory, have Your glory.
