Does God care for me?
This question assumes that God exists. If you have doubts about God’s existence, see “does God exist?”
Caring is something that only a God with personal attributes could do. Religions that teach that deity is an impersonal oneness do not have such a personal God. (See “are all religions the same?” and “what is God like?”
The Bible’s answer to this question is a resounding “Yes!”
In the first place, God creates us individually with loving care. We are told in the Bible: “You guided my conception and formed me in the womb. You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.” (Job 10:10-12, New Living Translation)
David, Israel’s greatest king, offered God this praise: “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” (Psalms 139:13-14) (see also "why does God matter?")
Second, God created the world, pronounced it to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31), and continues to hold it together (Colossians 1:17) as a wonderful place for us to live. Scientists tell us that there are many factors that combine to make the planet we live on capable of supporting life: the size of the earth, its distance from the sun, the time it takes for the earth to rotate around the sun and to rotate on its own axis, the angle of the earth in relation to the sun, the amount of water and oxygen available, etc. The odds against all of these factors happening by chance are almost beyond calculation.
In addition, there is an extravagance and elegance to the universe that is breathtaking. How many stars and galaxies, kinds of flowers and trees, and species of birds and insects are there? Have you ever noticed that when plants bloom, the colors of their flowers never clash with each other or with their foliage? Have you seen the beauty of the pictures coming back to us from our deep sea and inter-planetary probes? (see also "why does God matter?" For the dark side in nature, see "why do people suffer?”)
Third, God wants to take care of us. Jesus talked about this in His most famous speech, the Sermon on the Mount: After warning that a person cannot serve two masters, He said: “You cannot serve both God and money. That is why I tell you not to worry about every day life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?...Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you….So don’t worry about these things….Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:24-25, 28-31, 33)
Unfortunately, we cannot live lives that are good enough, as Jesus made clear earlier in the same speech. (see "am I good enough for heaven?"). This leads to a fourth way that God cares for us. At great cost He has provided a solution to our inability to “live righteously,” as Jesus put it (see above). Jesus’ early follower John writes, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
How should we respond to God’s care for us? See "can I know God personally?"
This material was obtained from the ISI web site. For more questions and answers go to http://www.internationalstudents.org/kgp.php .
All material ©2007 International Students, Inc.
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