⁶ “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. ⁷ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” Luke 12:6 – 7 NLT

Sometimes we forget how God is interested in even the little details of our lives.

Details

Our lives are full of details, most of them little. From what to have for breakfast, to which way to drive to work, to whether or not to download the latest app on our phone, we deal with details all the time. Most of them are not earth-shattering, but they are some of the stuff our lives are made of.

What we often forget, however, is that our Heavenly Father is even concerned about the small stuff; things that we wouldn’t think He would take note of, let alone care about. Just recently I read some incidents from the life of Elisha that shows just how much He cares about seemingly trivial things.

Stew

³⁸ Elisha now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.”

³⁹ One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous. ⁴⁰ Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite or two they cried out, “Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!” So they would not eat it.

⁴¹ Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat.” And then it did not harm them. 2 Kings 4:38 – 41 NLT

There is a certain sense in which this really isn’t a small thing. They were putting together a stew during a time of famine, which means they probably did not have a lot of ingredients to work with. On top of it all, someone put in some unfamiliar things that caused the stew to become toxic. Most of us would have simply thrown out the poison brew and looked for plan B. Not these guys. The cried out to the man who was God’s representative; the one who spent his life moving in concert with Heaven. Under what had to be the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Elisha threw some flour into the mixture and the toxins were neutralized so the people could eat. In what world does that work? I’m not sure the story would have made it into the Book if Elisha merely drew on some culinary skill he learned from his Mom. God intervened and healed the stew. Why? Because He cares even about the little things.

Ax Head

¹ One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, “As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small. ² Let’s go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.”

“All right,” he told them, “go ahead.”

³ “Please come with us,” someone suggested.

“I will,” he said. ⁴ So he went with them.

When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. ⁵ But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”

⁶ “Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. ⁷ “Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it. 2 Kings 6:1 – 7 NLT

Don’t you hate it when you have borrowed something and it gets lost or stolen? Most of the time we respond with an apology and an offer to replace the item. Or we may even go down the Canadian Tire or Menards and simply purchase a new one to replace it. Not this guy. He once again cried out to Elisha. The man of God threw a stick into the water and the ax head came floating to the top! In what world does that work? God suspended the laws of nature so this man could retrieve the lost tool. Why? Because He actually cares about the little things that concern us as His kids.

I Wonder

I can remember being told not to bother God with the little things because He had much more important things to worry about. I beg to differ. Don’t tell me that the One who takes the time to number the hairs on our head doesn’t care about the little details. I wonder how many times we have been prevented from seeing the Lord intervene in the little things of our lives simply because we didn’t think to ask. Maybe we should start asking and see what happens. Seeing the King concern Himself with even the little things in our lives is one of the joys for those who are living in the Reign.

M