God Loves Us and Knows a lot About Us.

June 19, 2024

I’d like for us to do a little counting with this post. We don’t have to be precise—just a round number will do.

Here’s what I’d like for us to do. Let’s count the number of seashells in this week’s photo.

I know, that seems like a lot of work, doesn’t it? There are a large number of shells in that photo, and it would take quite a while to count them all. Given that, I’ll help a little.

I took roughly 1/16 of the photo and counted the seashells in it. Now, I know my number isn’t exact, but I counted about 55 shells in that 1/16 section of photo. Given that, I’m comfortable estimating that there are somewhere around 850 – 900 seashells in the photo.

Now, imagine that the Bible said that God’s thoughts were as numerous as the number of seashells on the earth. I’m sorry, I can’t help with that math. You see, this photo comprises an area on the ground of about 2 feet by 3 feet, or 6 square feet. How many of those do you think there are on the beaches of the world? Too many to even imagine.

Oh, and I’m sorry, but the Bible doesn’t say that. Here’s what the Bible says.

God Loves Us and Knows a lot About Us. #hope #joy #writingcommunity Share on X

“How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:17-18, NIV)

His thoughts are not as numerous as the seashells, but they are as numerous as the grains of sand. If we go back to the image and try to count the grains of sand in and around those shells, we’d give up pretty quickly. And I’m pretty sure the verse doesn’t just mean the grains of sand we can see on the surface. It would include all the sand as deep as sand goes.

Most commentators believe that in Psalm 139, David is considering just how much God loves him and thinks of him. I agree since everything prior to verse 17 refers to God’s relationship with David and how much God knows about him.

So now imagine that God has that many thoughts about you.

Suffice it say, I believe we can be confident that God knows us and loves us. Thank you God for knowing so much about us and still loving us.