All Things Great and Small

“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does?”  ~Job 39:1

I have a window in my study that gives me an excellent view of the woods. Between my window and the trees is a water retention field, which often floods in heavy rain. The woods and the field are filled with critters. There are a few red-shouldered hawks that stand guard in the branches of the tall trees. From time to time a deer will parade across the field and disappear in the tree line. And there is a rather chubby groundhog that likes to come out in the late afternoon to inspect the ground for delectable edibles. I thoroughly enjoy watching these animals as they give me occasion to see them out my window.

Scripture has a lot to say about animals. It tells us that God made them all (Gen 1:20-25); that He knows all of their goings on (Job 39:1); that He uses them to accomplish His purposes in history (1 Kings 17:6; Jonah 1:17); that He feeds them out of His abundant provision (Matt 6:26); and that He cares about each one (Luke 12:6). Isn’t it amazing that these creatures, of which there is an estimated twenty quintillion (that’s twenty billion billion), are all cared for and known by God?

But the Bible tells us that as much as God loves the animals, He loves us even more! What’s even more amazing than God’s concern for, knowledge of, and provision for all the critters on earth — from the greatest (Leviathan) to the smallest (a sparrow) — is that He is concerned for, knows, and provides for you even more (Matt 6:26b).

Consider the words of Psalm 8:5: “You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Jesus says in John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus is not the Savior of animals, but of people made in God’s image (Gen 1:27). Finally, we read in Revelation 21:3 that the consummation of all things means that “the dwelling place of God [will be] with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” God’s intention in redemptive history is to assemble for Himself a people from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev 5:9), not from every species and genus and order and phylum.

My friends, every time you see an animal — from the largest elephant at the zoo to the smallest songbird on a tree branch in your front yard — let them serve as a reminder that God loves you far more than the creatures. While He cares for and knows them all, He sent His Son to die for your sins so that you might spend eternity with Him in heaven.

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Pastor of Teaching & Spiritual Formation