God cares about the little things.

People have these ideas that God is “up there,” “around us,” or any number of nebulous, indistinct, amorphous, hazy determiners. Despite humankind’s inability to pin Him down, He is intimately aware of our everyday lives. God knows the number of hairs on our heads and went so far as to explain that if He carefully clothes the lilies of the field which are here today and, thrown into the fire and burned the next, He would care much more for us; His people who are infinitely more precious to Him than flowers. The Bible shows us repeatedly that He cares tremendously about things that might seem inconsequential to our lives, like sparrows and lilies.

That’s a comfort to me.

It’s comforting because life is made up of the inconsequential. But those little things matter. When my kids were young, I used to make sure that all my girls’ hairbands matched when I did their hair. Not only did they match each other, but they also matched each of their outfits. It was important to me that they knew that every single thing was important, down to a tiny elastic band. “Please,” “Thank You,” “Yes, Ma’am,” “No Sir,” holding a door, helping with a load, a smile, a compliment, all of these go a long way towards working well with people. They may be small courtesies, but they make a huge difference.

Jesus called out to little Zaccheus sitting in a tree and honored him by eating with him. He complemented Mary Magdalene for listening to his teaching instead of busying herself with “women’s work.” Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well when Samaritan’s were despised, and he saved the wedding feast at Cana by turning water into wine when their supply had run out. These events don’t seem earth-shatteringly God-like. There are mostly mundane. But to each of the people involved, these encounters meant the world. To be treated with respect from a learned teacher like Jesus as a tax collector, a woman, or an outsider was hugely complimentary. To have your wedding saved in such a way that it seems you’ve kept the best for last, it spectacular.

Jesus was the ultimate 99%er. He didn’t seek out or heap praise on those at the top. Instead, Jesus sought out the poor, destitute, outcast and second-class citizen. He cared for the little guy, the person without power and influence. When I was a child, my mother would say that sometimes wants were needs. When my brother wanted expensive name brand sneakers in middle school, she felt that the extra expense was worth it for the sake of his self-esteem. When I wanted a girl’s t-shirt to prove that I had more than just my brother and male cousins’ hand-me-downs, she thought the expense was worth it.

Isn’t it wonderful to know that rather than being all high and mighty, God will meet us where we are? Isn’t it great to see that he cares about all of the details of our lives, even down to making sure there’s enough wine at a wedding?