“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Psalms 8:3-4 NIV
Can you recall a time when you did something for the very first time? It seems that during our first experience of something we are hypersensitive to the details. Depending on the situation and setting of this “first”, we often pay closer attention to the flow of our surroundings, we make note of the people around us and their actions, and we are even commonly more in tune with our senses – site, sound, taste, touch, and smell.
I remember my mom taking me to my first (and so far, only) Texan rodeo when I was in the seventh grade. This experience is one of those firsts that I remember well. More than anything, I remember Mom and I standing by the fence of this little arena watching the “Muttin Bustin” event. Now, we definitely had some interesting events at our county fair growing up, but never had I been exposed to a child clinging to a sheep with everything he or she had as the sheep bolted across the pen from the starting gate, and especially not as a part of a competition. I recall one child in particular who slowly slid onto the side of the sheep, and yet somehow held on for quite some time! It was both entertaining and impressive.
As a close second to the Muttin Bustin event, what I can recall most about my first Texan rodeo experience were the details picked up by my God-given senses. I would love to claim that I just have a wonderful memory of these things, but the reality is that I was required to write a paper for my seventh grade English class in which we were to take close notice of the things that we saw, heard, tasted, touched, and smelled at some point over the weekend and then tie them into an overly descriptive paper. I just so happened to be at a rodeo that weekend. Looking back now, I recognize that it was probably a good thing that I experienced my very first rodeo that weekend and that I was not at another soccer tournament, as was common at the time. Why? Because I had grown used to soccer tournaments. Though we switched locations every weekend, and we often played against different teams, the surroundings and settings of soccer tournaments in general had become quite familiar to me. I had surely grown much less observant of the details and no longer took such great notice of my senses… unless there was something a little more prominent like an exceedingly stinky shin guard, of course. Overall though, I would imagine that my discoveries of just another soccer tournament would have been quite different than those from my very first tournament.
Throughout this past year I have experienced many, many firsts. In fact, I am typing in the midst of another first experience at this very moment and I see many more firsts approaching as I look into the weeks and months ahead.
Let’s pause here for a moment.
Can you think back to any first-time experiences in your life? How about in this past year? Are you walking into any “firsts” today or in the days and months ahead, as far as you know?
Truly, take a moment with your thoughts before continuing on.
Now let me ask you this. Do you recall the details of your first-time experience better than subsequent experiences that were similar in nature?
As I have walked through these first-time experiences, especially in the past few months, it has been everything that I described above. Without a doubt, I become hypersensitive to the details. I take greater notice of the place, the people, and the flow around me. I actually seem to pay so much attention to my surroundings in these situations, that I am sure that many of the details that my brain soaks in are unrelated to me and my experience… rather they are happening to the side. Yet not knowing what’s connected to what, I remain aware.
With this hypersensitivity in mind, the thing that has really captured my attention is what has followed closely behind. As I filter through all of these details, I become increasingly humbled before the Lord. So much so that I often find myself murmuring, “Lord, who am I that you have allowed me this experience?” It is in that moment, or often those moments, throughout my first-time experience that I am reminded that it is God who has led me to this very point in time. Regardless of the particular experience, it is God who has written the details, down to the sites, the sounds, the tastes, the touches, and the smells. It is God who prepared this experience for me and who prepared me for this experience. It is God who has allowed this for me and it is me who has done nothing to earn it or deserve it.
My friends, can you relate? Can you think of a time when you were just completely humbled by the experience that God allowed for you?
Now, I know that not every first-time experience is delightful or exceptionally exciting, but it is true that every single first-time experience is allowed by God and that He entrusts us with these journeys. Equally so, it is true that He is right there in the midst of these moments with us, regardless of where they fall on the scale from the valleys to the mountain tops. And for one more layer of oomph, we know that He will use every single detail for our good and for His glory, so do let us be joyful in these experiences, regardless of what comes our way.
Okay, back to the question…Can you think of a time when you were just completely humbled by the experience that God allowed for you?
Perhaps it was exploring a new place, meeting a new friend, driving a new car, or navigating your first day at a new job. Maybe it wasn’t a new anything at all. Maybe it was finally catching up over dinner with a friend, a good day at work, a fruitful conversation with a family member, a sunny day or simply a quiet day in your hectic life. Friends – God is behind every single detail of all of these things and He allows us, you and me, to walk in and through these experiences in His perfect timing.
This very thing is what leaves me saying, “Lord, who am I that you have allowed me this experience?” and my hope is that it will be a phrase of frequent use in your life too.
God is just so kind. He is so good. Yet He is incomprehensible.
We will never stop learning of His love for us.
I want to leave you with what has really compelled me to write today, and that is the heart behind this prayer that has been forming throughout these recent first-time experiences.
Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for your goodness, your kindness, your faithfulness, and your love. Father, who am I that you have allowed me this experience? I know that I don’t deserve it, and I certainly haven’t earned it, yet you allow me to be here. Lord, help me to soak in the details. Help me to notice what you would have me to notice, to see what you would have me to see, and to hear what you would have me to hear. Open my eyes to the blessings that you have placed on this path and to be constantly reminded that it is you who have brought me here.
If you take nothing else from this post today, this last part is what I want you to hear; it is what God has placed on my heart today.
Father, help me to never grow used to this. No matter how many times I encounter something remotely similar, help me not to take it for granted. I want to walk into every experience as though it were the first time. I want to notice the details. I want to be in tune with where you are guiding. I want to see what you would have me to see and to hear what you would have me to hear.
Lord, I ask that if pride begins to sneak into this matter, that you would humble me immediately. Help me to never begin to believe that I have earned or deserved these experiences or any of the details within them. Search me and know me Lord. Lead me in the way everlasting, helping me to rejoice always as I am reminded that it is you behind every single detail and that all these things will be used for your glory. Thank you, Father, for your great love for me. I pray these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
With so much love,
Your sister in Christ
