Listen

You, Lord my God! You’ve done so many things— your wonderful deeds and your plans for us— no one can compare with you! If I were to proclaim and talk about all of them, they would be too numerous to count!

Psalm 40:5

Think

When we think of God’s marvelous works, we often think of rivers and lakes, mountains and oceans, stars and galaxies.

But the psalmist here celebrates other wonders of God: the wondrous plans God has – for us, each one of us. That must be a lot of plans: 8 billion people live on earth today.

What about people who aren’t alive now? Certainly, God had plans for them, too! I looked up how many people have ever lived on earth until now. It turns out that scientists can use complicated mathematical formulas to estimate that approximately 105 billion people have lived on earth.

Here’s a way to picture what 105 billion people looks like: if every one of those 105 billion people from all of history stood in a line, the line would wrap around the globe one thousand times! And God had plans for each one – including you.

Jane Claspy Nesmith

Pray

Loving God, when I am unsure of my future pathway, keep me mindful that you have plans for me, and they are wondrous plans.

Amen.

Go

Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In Your company I’ll go where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

John Bell in “The Summons” (1987)