He cares about the details and directs our steps, loving us with a perfect love, so we can trust what He’s doing. We can even trust what He’s not doing.
My husband and I recently celebrated my milestone birthday (21! Ahem...okay, fine, 40) by taking a cruise. His birthday is five days before mine (he’s a year younger, no milestone for him yet!), so we left for the cruise on his birthday and arrived home on mine. We’d been planning and looking forward to this vacation for a long time, even securing our excursions months in advance. We chose to spend our port-time in Cozumel on a beach island, complete with lunch and a private beach bed. Woohoo!
Once aboard the cruise ship, we received a paper notice under our door that the excursion had changed slightly, and that the tour operator was going to be using a different type of boat to get us from the port to the beach island. No biggie. Then we saw that the weather forecast for our day in Cozumel was projected to be stormy. I started praying for good weather. The forecast cleared a few days into the trip, with almost no chance of rain. Praise! However, the night before the actual excursion, another sheet of paper slipped under the cabin door. The excursion had been canceled by the tour operator due to “inclement weather.”
We were so bummed. My husband quickly ran down to the tour desk to try to find another excursion we could jump on that wasn’t sold out. I prayed again. Lord, I realize this is a small thing, but it’s important to us. Will you help us get on a different beach excursion? Hubby came back a few minutes later and had secured the last two tickets to a very similar excursion at a beach club. No beach bed, but still a lovely day with lunch, swimming, and gorgeous waves. I was ecstatic.
The weather remained clear and we poured off the bus in Cozumel at the beach club. (Apparently, the inclement part was happening under the water—the current and tides were stirred from all the prior windy weather so it was dangerous for small boats. That’s why they couldn’t get anyone to the original island.) The excursion was very crowded, as a lot of people had to reschedule their original plans like us. We hurried through the throng of chairs, all claimed with striped towels and flip-flops, looking for a place to land. Some people had gathered around the pool, others were taking the chairs set by the ocean, which is what I had hoped for. We walked row after row, and there weren’t two seats available anywhere. There wasn’t even one chair. Not even by the pool or the bathrooms.
I prayed again. Lord, this is a little petty, but could you find us a spot? Somewhere we can sit together and enjoy the day? I opened my eyes and saw Hubby running toward the water. And there were two empty chairs, right by the sandy entrance to the ocean, situated directly under a palm tree. They might as well have had a heavenly bow tied on them.
Being Seen and Taken Care Of
I almost cried. I thought—I don’t deserve this. Why is God blessing me this way? Why is He answering my specific prayers over all these little things that, at the end of the day, don’t really matter? I was so deeply overcome at feeling seen and taken care of by Him. So full of joy and gratitude at His abundance of provision in these little things.
This proved to me something the Bible already says—that God cares about the details. I love how the Psalms shows us this, over and over again. Here are just two examples:
"The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand." Psalm 37:23-24 (ESV)
"O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether." Psalm 139:1-4 (ESV)
God determines our steps—even the ones taken on sandy shores by turquoise waters. He knows us. He knows when we do things before we do them. He discerns us, He knows our words. Even the ones we never actually say but bite back. (Eek, that’s convicting!)
There were several other examples from the trip, such as how God provided front-row seats for me in a shuttle when my claustrophobia would have never allowed me to sit in the back of a van. Or how He returned my husband’s backpack that was accidentally left under a table during trivia night, with all its contents—including cash—untouched.
Trusting in the Big and Little Things
And you know? I came home from that cruise to several big problems that required a different measure of faith in God to solve. I believe now that He’d been reminding me during the trip of His faithfulness in the little things, like last-minute tickets and available chairs, so I’d trust Him with these bigger things involving family and money and the future.
How could God care enough about me to provide a perfect chair under a palm tree on a gorgeous Caribbean beach, but not enough to provide a job during a lay-off or peace in the face of uncertain family trials or faith amid unjust circumstances?
"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13 (ESV)
I challenge you to fill in your own blanks. Go back and remember all the ways God has been in the details for you before. Think back to your childhood, your teen years, your adulthood. Your last year and your yesterday. Now, answer the question: How could God care enough about you to give you X, but deny you Y?
Easy. He can’t. It’s not possible.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17 (ESV)
Providing in the Details
I understand that not every prayer is answered with a “yes” in the moment. Not every weather forecast changes, and sometimes beach chairs remain occupied. Sometimes bank accounts drain, divorces become final, and lost things aren’t found. But, we know God is good because He gives good gifts. He cares about the details and directs our steps, loving us with a perfect love, so we can trust what He’s doing. We can even trust what He’s not doing. (Which is often much harder.)
I know that if God hadn’t provided those front-row shuttle seats, He’d have been with me in the back, breathing with me through the claustrophobia and sustaining me on the ride—because His presence is a steady, consistent gift. I know that if the backpack hadn’t been returned or the excursion hadn’t been rescheduled, our steps would have still been ordained and it all would have been okay—because His hand is always involved in the details of our lives.
If you’re struggling to trust Him right now, remember He cares. Not one detail is too small or trivial. He’s in the whole thing. So pray about all the little things, the big things, and watch with eyes of faith for the way He’s moving.
He won’t leave you without exactly what you need.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/digitalskillet
