He knows them

 
For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.
- Psalm 50:10-11 (NIV)
 
You never know what you're going to find at Camp Eagle Rock. Over the years, we've encountered some interesting residents. There was a little iguana, a beautiful koi pond, a chameleon, and one year, there was a lovely tarantula.
I use the word lovely very loosely - I am terrified of spiders. Apparently Camp Eagle Rock believes spiritual growth sometimes requires facing your fears.
This year, however, we arrived to discover some new residents: goats and a donkey. Now, let's establish something else, I'm a little afraid of goats, too. But these guys were pretty hard not to like. They had their own pen, but much of the time they happily wandered around outside the main hall making friends with anyone willing to pet them. The donkey apparently believed he was a very large cat. He would walk up and rub against your legs looking for attention—and nearly knock you over in the process. The goats were quite convinced that whatever we were eating inside the dining hall should also be available to them. The children (and a few adults) wanted to take a goat home. No goats came home with us, as far as I know.
What struck me, though, was listening to the people who care for these animals talk about them. They know them. Not just the goats or the donkey. They know their personalities, their habits, which one will wander where, which one wants attention, what they need and how to care for them. These aren't simply animals wandering around the camp, they're known, they're cared for.
And standing there listening to people talk about how much they care for each one reminded me of something about God.
God knows His creation, not generally, personally.
If He knows the birds in the mountains, He knows the donkey rubbing against someone's legs. He knows the goats trying to sneak into the dining hall. He knows the fish in the pond. He even knows the tarantula. I'm going to trust Him to keep track of that one without my assistance.
But more importantly... He knows me, and He knows you. He knows our personalities and our habits.
He knows what makes us happy, He knows what frightens us, He knows when we wander, He knows when we need attention, He knows what we need before we even know how to ask for it.
Sometimes we can look at a world filled with billions of people and wonder how God could possibly notice one person and one problem in one little corner of it. But that's because we're thinking about God's ability to know us through the limitations of our ability to know each other.
God doesn't look across humanity and see a crowd, He sees His children.
Individually, personally, completely.
The people at Camp Eagle Rock don't just have some goats and a donkey, they have animals they know and care for.
And you aren't just another person wandering around God's creation either.
You are known, you are cared for, you are His.
And if He knows every bird in the mountains...
He certainly hasn't lost track of you.
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible