God Sees Individuals in a Crowd

I work in a large youth ministry. Last Sunday night, 433 students came through the doors. Before you write us off as “too into numbers” or as a holding bin for teenagers stuffed with free pizza, let me say that big numbers don’t necessarily mean anything. Or, they can mean a lot. Actually, numbers do matter because people matter, and in that crowd of 433, there were 433 unique individuals looking for acceptance and a safe place to have fun. Certainly, the Holy Spirit can and does move through large crowds as well as small crowds, orchestrating circumstances and drawing people’s minds and hearts to Him.

Case in point: a middle school student I’ll call “Bobby.” Sunday night, our youth pastor noticed Bobby at a video game. They had never met before, but our pastor engaged Bobby in conversation. It turns out that Bobby’s father had collapsed and died of a heart attack at 53 years old this week. The funeral was already over.

Our pastor was of course moved by Bobby’s circumstance. He was able to establish the beginning of a relationship with Bobby and speak hope and courage into Bobby’s life. But God didn’t stop working there.

Later that night, our guest speaker was Stephanie Arnold, a former Olympic archer who uses her skills to enhance her talks about her faith in various venues. This past year, Stephanie’s father was killed in a motorcycle accident. She told the crowd Sunday night that this was the first time she had been able to talk about her loss without breaking down. She talked about how God had helped her through this hard time in her life.

Do you think that one little 6th grade boy in the crowd was hanging on every word?

It took a lot of time, work and resources to make last Sunday night happen, and God receives the glory. It is by him, in him and for him that nights such as this happen. And yes, it was an elaborate event. Some might say over the top, too "worldy," too many bells and whistles, not deep enough, not churchy enough--but I know how the staff would respond; I feel sure that they would do it all again, even just for Bobby. Because he’s worth it. He matters to God, and he matters to us.

Do you recognize times in your life when God arranges moments and circumstances to meet you at your point of need? Do you realize that you matter so much to God that he always sees you in the crowd, even a crowd of 6 billion people?

May you feel his watchful, loving eye on you as you move throughout your day. Whatever trials touch you, they are only passing through by his permission, and he will give you grace to face them. And if you should happen to remember Bobby today, please pray for him. It’s been a tough week, but God’s eye is definitely on him. He’s a V.I.P..




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