He Calls Them All by Name*
Is it possible that God can intimately care for me when there are 7.9 billion people?
*Revised and re-posted for new subscribers.
Can God really know me individually? If 7.9 billion people are praying, can God possibly hear and answer every single prayer? That is a valid question.
Not only is it true, but Jesus went even further. Many times as he taught us not to worry he used the example of how the Father feeds the birds. He cares way more for us than the birds. Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Mt 10:29-31.
God knows how many hairs are on your head! That is mind boggling.
1 Chronicles 28:9 (NLT): For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him.
He sees every heart and knows every thought! Can this possibly be true, or is it just untrue things that people believe to make them feel better?
GOD CREATED ALL THE STARS AND CALLS THEM ALL BY NAME
Isaiah 40:25–31 (NLT): To whom will you compare me?Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. 26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.
There are an estimated 200 billion stars in our galaxy and an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the part of the universe that we can see with current technology. I don’t know how many 200 billion x 100 billion is, but I know that is a lot of stars! God has a name for every star and even for the ones we cannot see!
You can either believe that God created them all. Or, you can believe that the universe, with it’s 100 billion galaxies, exploded out of a tiny singularity smaller than a period on this page all by itself without any designer. I find it much, much easier to believe the former, considering all the design in nature and unique personalities in everyone I know.
God has written to humanity telling us of his love for us and his plans for welcoming us back if we will receive him. A love letter is sometimes cherished by the one who receives it, but sometimes it is spurned. The one receiving the letter makes that decision.
In God’s love letter to us, he tells of how his creation, including the glorious universe, shows his love for us. Consider the following passage.
Psalm 147:3–11 (NLT): 3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. 4 He counts the stars and calls them all by name. 5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! 6 The Lord supports the humble, but he brings the wicked down into the dust. 7 Sing out your thanks to the Lord; sing praises to our God with a harp. 8 He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. 9 He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry. 10 He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. 11 No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Think about it. If God has a name for every single star in the universe, he certainly has the capacity to know each one of us intimately. Yes, as we have seen, even to know our thoughts and how many hairs are on our heads.
NOT ONLY DOES HE KNOW THE STARS NAMES, BUT HE ALSO KNOWS YOUR NAME
Agriculture was the milieu of the people in Bible times, and the Bible talks about God taking care of us like a shepherd takes care of his sheep. (Psalm 23). And he knows all our names:
John 10:3 (NLT): The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
HE KNEW YOU BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
God told the prophet Jeremiah: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 (NLT).
Jeremiah wasn’t the only one who realized this fact. David, who wrote many of the psalms, also was in awe of God’s intimate involvement in his creation: You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. Psalm 139:13–14 (NLT).
HE IS ACTIVELY SUSTAINING YOUR LIFE
Job 12:10 (ESV): In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Acts 17:27–28 (ESV): Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’
HE HEARS THE PRAYERS OF THOSE TRUSTING IN HIM
Psalm 116:1–2 (NLT): 1 I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. 2 Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!
Proverbs 15:29 (NLT): 29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.
HE WILL HEAR YOUR PRAYER RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE SEEKING HIM
Jeremiah 29:11–14 (NLT): For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord.
When you finally find him, you will realize he has been seeking you all along.
Ezekiel 34:11 (NLT): 11 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep.
The reason the the universe is so enormous is to prove to us that God is big enough and capable enough to care for each of us moment by moment and not be overloaded in the least. If God is big enough to create all that, he is certainly big enough to keep all his promises to you. What an awesome God!
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Ps. 19:1
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If you sincerely doubt there is a spiritual landscape, or perhaps think that even if it does exist, you have serious misgivings about Christianity, I have a couple of book recommendations. These are some very smart people who have been mulling things over a lot:
Confronting Christianity (link), 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion, by Rebecca McLaughlin (Cambridge: 1998-01 B.-Eng. Lit.; 2002-05 PhD-Eng. Lit.) Crossway, 2019.
When Faith Fails (link), Finding God in the Shadow of Doubt, by Dominic Done (Oxford: 2012 Master of Theology). NelsonBooks, 2019.