“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)
Imagine that you are in London, England. You are visiting Buckingham Palace. Inside the palace, you see a beautiful painting of a sunrise over the London Bridge. You think it is the most beautiful painting of a sunrise that you have ever seen! You learn from the tour guide that the Queen of England herself painted that picture when she was still just a young princess.
You say to yourself, “Wow! I’d sure like to tell her how much I like her painting!” And the next thing you know, a guard with a really tall furry black hat is escorting you through the palace halls and right up to the Queen, sitting on her royal throne. There you are, standing astonished before the Queen of England herself! What a privilege! What an honor!
Can you imagine how amazing that would be? Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t happen. And even if you were to go home and write a letter to the Queen to tell her how much you liked her painting of the sunrise, the letter would probably be opened by a secretary or an assistant. The Queen might never even see your letter, and she might not ever take the time to meet you or hear what you have to say to her. She is just too busy and too important.
Three-year-old Erika and her baby sister were going to the bakery with their mother. Erika pointed out the van window and said, “Mommy, look at the beautiful sky!” And there was a beautiful sunrise painted across the whole sky.
“You know, honey, God made that sunrise!” said her mother.
The little girl leaned her forehead against the window and said wistfully, “I wish I could tell Him ‘thank you.’”
“Oh, but you can tell God ‘thank you’ for that sunrise!” With a joyful smile, Erika’s mother explained to her that we can tell God anything we like, at any time. A queen might just paint a picture of a sunrise, and we could never even speak to her. But the God Who rules over the whole universe – the One Who actually made that sunrise and the sun itself and the stars – that God is available for us to talk to! Not only is He available, but He wants, invites, and commands us to talk to Him! Now that is astonishing! An open invitation to an audience anytime with the King and Creator of all!
In Psalm 8, David expresses the same kind of amazement when he says, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” In other words, the Creator of the universe not only cares about us, but He tells us not to be anxious about anything, because we can tell all of our requests to God through prayer. (Philippians 4:6)
If you had an invitation to speak to a queen and you could give her one request, you would probably spend several days just planning what you would say; and you would never be late or miss that appointment. But we are invited and even commanded to speak to the King of kings, God Himself! It is a joy and privilege to be able to come to His throne of grace everyday and to give all our requests to Him.
God is not too busy or important for His people, and He invites them to fellowship with Him.
My Response:
» What are some things I would like to talk to God about?
» What are things that discourage me from talking to God?
» How can I act like I believe in a God Who is not too busy or too important to fellowship with me?