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When I fly I like to sit by the window because I love to look outside as we take off. I'm still fascinated by how planes fly and I love to look at the sky while we are in it. A thought came to mind a couple years ago that challenged my perspective of how big God is and how intimately He knows each of us, even if we don't know Him. As we were taking off the houses below us got smaller and smaller, the cars got smaller, the people walking around outside all but disappeared and as we climbed higher in the sky I was able to see the entire city. God said, "I know every single person living in those houses, driving those cars, working in those buildings, learning in those schools, walking on those streets. But not just the people in this city, I know every person in every city, every town, every country, every continent and every corner of the world. I know them all by name. I know their dreams, I know their struggles, I know their pain, I know the secret things they would never say out loud, I know each of them, even if they don't know Me."

Sometimes we can forget the omnipresence of God, we can begin to believe that He can only be one place at a time. If there is a war in another nation we can think God is there with them, but not here with us because He is needed more there. If there is a tragedy in another family we can think He is only there with them and not also with us. We think when someone gets blessed that all of Gods provision was emptied out on them and there is nothing left for us. We think the Godly people get His mercy and not the "sinners". We can begin to divide between "them" and "us" and depending on where we think we fall on this non-existent spectrum in that moment, is how we think God is available to us.This minimizes how we approach Him, how we pray, how we seek Him and how we trust Him. He is all places at all times, with all people from every nation, tribe and tongue.

One time when I was opening a service in prayer I said something along the lines of, "thank you for being God of the USA," WHAT? I got off the stage and said, "why did that come out of my mouth??" He's not the God of just the United States, He's also the God of the UNIVERSE. He loves EVERYONE even those who don't claim Him as their savior.

While I was on this most recent flight I was in the middle seat, so I didn't want to move, I didn't want to turn a light on I didn't want to get up to go to the bathroom because I didn't want to inconvenience anyone sitting around me and this can be a way that we approach God, as if our very existence is an inconvenience to Him. This way of thinking can affect our entire existence. If we believe that the One who created us is inconvenienced by us we won't seek Him out in any capacity. We will try to hide from Him, we will try to "lay low" as if to not draw attention to ourselves. We won't go to Him when we need help or even if we just need a friend. So our life is spent trying to avoid Him because we don't want to "waste His time" and we try to figure life out on our own, which leads us to a very lonely and empty place and at some point we begin asking..."does He even know I'm here?"

Some of us are plagued by the idea that God doesn't see us. He doesn't know what we are going through and He doesn't care. Maybe He hasn't answered a prayer that you desperately needed Him to answer. Maybe you feel as if He is distant and only watches from afar. Maybe you had a bad experience with church and that has given you a bad taste in your mouth about God. Maybe you believe God only loves and cares for those who live a perfect life, but since you aren't one of those people who are perfect, you believe that you are disqualified from everything God has to offer.

God sees YOU. He wants YOU to know HIM. All He is waiting for is your permission for Him to get involved with your life. You are not a mistake and you were not an afterthought to Him. He created you with a purpose. You don't need to try and hide from Him, because He sees you anyway. He's not waiting for you to mess up so He can punish you, He's waiting for you to bring all of your mistakes to Him so He can heal you and set you free. He wouldn't have sent Jesus here to die for YOU if you didn't matter to Him. He wouldn't have made a way for you if He wanted you to fail. While you may think you are small or forgotten by the world around you, you are in the forefront of Gods mind and He cares deeply for you. He went to great lengths to ensure you had the ability to spend eternity with Him, if you choose Him to be the Lord of your life. You are significant to Him and His story.

God cares about the world around you; the homeless guy who asks you for change, the teenager who plays their music WAY too loud when driving down the road, the mom whose trying not to lose her crap, the man who lost his wife and goes home and cries because she was his world AND He cares about you. You are also His child and whether you are having a GREAT day or you are having the worst day of your life, He hears you and He is ever present in your time of need. He sees you and He knows you.

1. Do you feel like God has forgotten about you? Why?

2. Do you feel like God is more present with some people but not others? Why?

3. Do you feel disqualified from having a relationship with God? Why?

4. Do you categorize people you encounter by "worthy" and "un worthy" of God's love? If so, where do you fall on that spectrum?