I have a stress ball that sits on my desk at work. You know, those soft foam shapes that are supposed to help with that uninvited guest in our daily lives at times. It’s that pesky visitor that carries the name of “Stress.” I actually have two of them on my desk. One I received at a conference. The other, someone gave me recently. I’m not sure why they felt I needed two on my desk. Maybe I should consider analyzing that further at some point. If I had to pick a favorite of the two, it would definitely be the one that looks like a globe.
I don’t particularly find myself picking it up when stressed. However, I do find myself tossing it in the air or giving it a squeeze when I am brainstorming an idea. I recently tossed it into the air and clumsily missed the catch. It spun out of control, under the desk and into a dark corner I couldn’t reach. I guess I could have gotten down on the floor and crawled under to retrieve it. Instead, I took off one shoe and pulled it close to me with my foot.
For whatever reason, I chuckled at how this looked. It seemed silly. Here was a representation of earth on the floor, being crunched by the toes of my foot. It seemed so small there. I picked it up with my hand and squeezed it with my fingers. Then, I switched and squeezed it with the opposite hand. For obvious reasons, I didn’t want the muscles on one arm to be bulging more than the other. I had to make sure both sides were equally exercised! I set it back on the desk and looked down at it. I thought for a brief second about how small the earth looked from my level in this moment, even though it was just a smaller scale replica of the real thing.
Every time I fly in an airplane and look down at the land, I think about what we look like to God. It’s interesting how we tend to feel so big and think our personal problems are so important in the world. However, when you look down from an airplane, it puts things into perspective. There are so many of us out there. Each of us have our own issues, problems, and complex dilemmas we need His help with. How does He do it? How does He manage it all? It’s hard to fathom for me.
I thought of how just seconds before, I was tossing that globe up into the air so carelessly. It struck me at how fragile we all are, but yet how He holds us in His hands so gently. He has the power and right to toss us around and let us spin out of control. However, He instead holds us so close to Him and never lets things go out of His control. He does this for each and every one of us. In the big picture of it all, staring down from an airplane, you can see that we aren’t all that big. We take up a pretty small fraction of this place we inhabit. There are so many of us, each with our own set of needs. Yet His provision is more than enough and more than we deserve. His attention to us is so individualized, and He even knows every hair on our heads!
I remind myself of that when I start to worry about the many children I have met on the mission field. He knows every hair on their heads as well. His eye is on the sparrow and He holds us all in His hands. This moment concluded with a familiar tune playing in the back of my mind. It was one from childhood and a good reminder for us all. “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”
I don’t particularly find myself picking it up when stressed. However, I do find myself tossing it in the air or giving it a squeeze when I am brainstorming an idea. I recently tossed it into the air and clumsily missed the catch. It spun out of control, under the desk and into a dark corner I couldn’t reach. I guess I could have gotten down on the floor and crawled under to retrieve it. Instead, I took off one shoe and pulled it close to me with my foot.
For whatever reason, I chuckled at how this looked. It seemed silly. Here was a representation of earth on the floor, being crunched by the toes of my foot. It seemed so small there. I picked it up with my hand and squeezed it with my fingers. Then, I switched and squeezed it with the opposite hand. For obvious reasons, I didn’t want the muscles on one arm to be bulging more than the other. I had to make sure both sides were equally exercised! I set it back on the desk and looked down at it. I thought for a brief second about how small the earth looked from my level in this moment, even though it was just a smaller scale replica of the real thing.
Every time I fly in an airplane and look down at the land, I think about what we look like to God. It’s interesting how we tend to feel so big and think our personal problems are so important in the world. However, when you look down from an airplane, it puts things into perspective. There are so many of us out there. Each of us have our own issues, problems, and complex dilemmas we need His help with. How does He do it? How does He manage it all? It’s hard to fathom for me.
I thought of how just seconds before, I was tossing that globe up into the air so carelessly. It struck me at how fragile we all are, but yet how He holds us in His hands so gently. He has the power and right to toss us around and let us spin out of control. However, He instead holds us so close to Him and never lets things go out of His control. He does this for each and every one of us. In the big picture of it all, staring down from an airplane, you can see that we aren’t all that big. We take up a pretty small fraction of this place we inhabit. There are so many of us, each with our own set of needs. Yet His provision is more than enough and more than we deserve. His attention to us is so individualized, and He even knows every hair on our heads!
I remind myself of that when I start to worry about the many children I have met on the mission field. He knows every hair on their heads as well. His eye is on the sparrow and He holds us all in His hands. This moment concluded with a familiar tune playing in the back of my mind. It was one from childhood and a good reminder for us all. “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”
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