I am little.

   So often we see ourselves as something big and important, like we should have so much attention on ourselves because we matter so much. But you see, God has a way of changing people's mindsets, making them realize that they are so little compared to Him and His creation.

   

   God created the entire universe. He created earth and the sun and moon and stars.. He created our galaxy and all our neighboring galaxies and everything else in the universe. He created the caterpillar, which has 228 separate muscles in its head alone. He put 3,000 different tree species in one square mile in the Amazon jungle. And out of everything He created, we humans are the only things He created in His image. Is that crazy or what?!

   There are an estimated 350,000,000 galaxies just in the known universe. In the midst of those galaxies is our galaxy, the Milky Way. In our galaxy, there are countless stars. Somewhere among all those stars, our solar system is located. Here there are planets and the moon and the sun. Then there's earth, where we are. Here, the deepest place in the ocean is 35,840 feet deep. The tallest mountain is 29,029 feet high. The longest road in America is I-90, which is 16,426,080 feet, or 3,111 miles, long. Then located in small little Chattanooga, TN, is me, all 5 feet, 5 inches of me. Just by that I feel pretty dang small.. It'd take almost 3,000,000 of me to stretch the entire distance of I-90. If I was standing in 5 and a half feet of water, my head would be completely covered. Thinking about being 35,840 feet under water is totally mind blowing to me.

   But you know what's cooler than all of that? God is bigger than the 35,840 feet of water or all 29,029 feet of Mt. Everest. He's bigger than I-90. He's bigger earth and our galaxy. He's even bigger than the entire universe. He CREATED the entire universe. I bet even our huge universe is pretty small compared to God.

   I recently told someone that I wanted to go to space, because I thought it would be beautiful, but also because I thought it would make me feel little. I was asked why I liked feeling little.. and honestly, it's hard to explain. I like feeling little because it puts things in perspective. When I look at the ocean, or stars, or mountains, I see how big they are. Then I see how little I am. It reminds me that there's so much more out there than little me. It reminds me that I'm not so important. It reminds me of God, because He created the ocean, mountains, and all those stars that make me feel little, and He is so much bigger in comparison.

   When I think about all of this, it's crazy that God cares about me at all. It's crazy that He chooses to use someone as little as I am. It's crazy that He loves me with a relentless love. His love is fierce, furious, wild, and strong. He is jealous for me; He desires for me to love Him. God, in all His bigness, loves ME. The Creator of everything loves me for who I am, but wants to make me into something so much more beautiful. I get goosebumps when I think about that. It is, for lack of a better word, crazy. But I am convinced that there is no better feeling in the entire world, to know that I am so little, yet God loves me anyways. I am so little, but God is using me. I am so little, but God is changing me. How can I not be filled with love for God when I know all of these things?

   When I think about all of this, the word "beautiful" keeps coming to mind. I honestly think that all of this is beautiful. It's the most beautiful thing that I could ever be a part in. God's love is beautiful. His bigness is beautiful. My littleness is beautiful. It's beautiful that He desires so much for me.

   If you've never experienced a feeling like this, I encourage you to go look at the stars tonight. Watch the sunset or sunrise. Go on a hike. Be in God's creation and just be quiet. He will meet you there. He will show you that He is so big. He'll make you realize that you are so very little, but He loves every part of you anyways. God is big, and God is good.

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?" "Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name, because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing." -Isaiah 40:12,26