Tuesday, October 19

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
—Luke 12:6-7

You have probably heard someone say, “Oh, it hurts (or it is a problem or I'm in trouble), but there are always people worse off than I am.” Or, “I had no shoes and felt sorry for myself, but then I met a man who had no feet.” These are familiar ways of trying to keep our own troubles in perspective, and ways of remembering that there really ARE people worse off than we are.

But we also need to remember that there is no one in the world more important to God than we are. Our problems are as important as those of anyone else’s. We need to honor our own suffering in the knowledge that some things are not relative. Just because someone else is hurting more than we are, doesn’t mean that we are not hurting.

I knew an Anglican priest from the country of Malawi in Africa. His wisdom about people was descended from kings, literally. He once said to me, “Blood is blood,” as we discussed this subject of honoring our own suffering. He meant that just because someone else is bleeding more than we are, doesn’t mean that our own bleeding wound doesn’t hurt and isn’t important.

God cares about every hair on our head and every life-wound of our heart. We need but let him embrace us, as He yearns to do. When we do that we are nurtured with his healing love. God does not force us to accept this love, but be assured, God is always ready and desirous of surrounding us with the peace and the power that only our beloved Creator can give.

Thank you, God, for caring about me, individually, as your unique, one-in-a-trillion child. Amen.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2006.