Not too long ago, I was sitting on a bench resting between workouts in the gym and my body felt overly defeated. As the timer counted down from 60 seconds…40 seconds….down to 12 seconds left of rest I muttered some choice words under my breathe not wanting to pick up the weights again for the next set. But when the timer hit 0, I let out a heavy sigh, picked up the dumbbells and went about my workout…albeit begrudgingly.
Why is that? Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to give up if my body was feeling defeated, tired, maybe even too weak?
How often have we felt that way when life gets too hard or too confusing or too exhausting to move even one more step? When you feel overstimulated from work and know that when you walk into your home, it will be a mental strength of a different kind as soon as you cross the threshold.
Or when the alarm goes off the next morning and all you want to do is roll over, tune the world out, and be in your comfy space just a little bit longer wishing you could be in your little hidey-hole until further notice?
You might even whisper the words I’ve often thought in my head, “not today, Lord. Please, not today.”
I want you to consider the words David wrote in Psalms 8:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
Psalms 8:3-4
Think about it for a second…”consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars…”. In this, David is writing to the Lord acknowledging His beautiful works and the vastness of His creations.
God quite literally created the heavens and the earth, the blades of grass that blow with the wind, and the rain that falls heavy against your window. He created the mountains that stretch across the horizon and the ocean’s floor with a heartbeat of it’s own wave. He created the stars that light up the night sky and a moon to keep the stars company.
How about the next few words, “…which you have set in place…”. God is extremely intentional. He’s created nothing by mistake and has created a purpose for everything you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Wow. Let that verse set in for just one second.
The same God who created the moon and the stars, the ground that you walk on, and the crisp air you breathe in decided that the world needed one of you.
ONE. OF. YOU.
He created everything you see around you with mountain tops that reach the heavens and stars that light a way in the night and yet, God decided the world needed you.
There is only one of you.
That’s not all, not only did He handcraft you and design you knowing the amount of hairs you have on your head and choosing you to have brown eyes instead of blue or brown hair instead of blonde….He cares for YOU!
The King of the Heavens cares for you.
Believe me, I’ve thought of some wild things during my workouts in the morning from how drained I feel to why is my body not as strong this week as it was last week or more honestly, “what’s the point of being here? I can’t go on much more like this.”
Rarely have I thought of the vastness of God’s creations, knowing that He chose the world needed one of me and provided me an able body—correction—a strong body to do hard things with.
Rarely have I sat on the bench resting and meditating for those 60 seconds thinking just how great our God truly is and thanked Him for the way He so meticulously designed me and how He decided the world needed one of me.
And to think of such things, just like David, is such a humbling experience.
Who are we to be loved, chosen, accepted by the King and redeemed through His love and His grace? Who are we when we consider the vastness of His creations, our Creator made in His image? Who are we that God is mindful of us? Moreso, who are we that He cares for every detail of our lives?
We are His children. His people. And we belong to Him.
Today, let’s trust in our Creator. The same one who’s loving and compassionate and caring. When we feel like we can’t pick up anymore weight, let’s take a deep breathe and place our confidence in Him.
I don’t know who needed to hear this as much as I did right now, but it definitely shifts the narrative a bit, don’t you think?
To be honest, I’ve been holding my breathe writing this piece for you and I just let out the deepest sigh.
I needed to hear this, if anything, as a reminder for the next time I feel so drained and I feel like I can’t go on this way…to consider the stars.
“God, when I think about the vastness of the universe, I am awestruck of the way You created me. Your creativity is beautiful, Your power is masterful, and Your love for me is intentional. Thank you for thinking of me since the beginning of time—for sacrificing Your only son. I love you, Lord. Amen.”
–A saved prayer of mine from The Bible App
There’s humility in knowing that the same God who created the heavens and the earth decided the world needed one of you and one of me.
Simply Blooming Grace 