…in His hands.

When my daughter was 4 years old — an early 4 — she was singing a version of that song that included herself and a character named Joy from one of her favorite books at the time.

He’s got Annabeth and Joy
in His hands
He’s got Annabeth and Joy
in His hands
He’s got Annabeth and Joy—

She did a full-stop and asked: Who’s Joy?

Greg and I burst into laughter because a) that’s funny; b) she was the one who included Joy in the song in the first place; and c) we could only assume it was from the book because we didn’t know an actual human named Joy.

That song has always been one of my favorites, and reading today’s reflection in Trevor Hudson’s Pauses for Lent made me sing it.

I don’t want to get lazy in remembering the primary tenet of that song, which is this: We are one teeny tiny part of God’s whole narrative, and we matter in that narrative. When you make a soul feel lighter, when you bring joy to your corner of the world, when you bring comfort to a broken heart, you are bringing heaven to earth. You are part of God’s story.

And when you pray, when you ask God for help, when you cry out in agony or heartache, that is also part of you being a part of God’s story. Read that again. Both sides of life—the joy and the pain, the frustration and the ease, the hurt and the healing—are part of God’s story.

You are part of God’s story, right where you are. Because He’s got the whole world in His hands, that means you, right where you are.

I am a part of God’s story, right where I am. Because He’s got the whole world in His hands, and that means me, right where I am.

You matter. I matter. My neighbor matters. The families living in mud huts in Ethiopia matter. The cab driver in Dubai matters. The trafficked 13-year-old in Los Angeles matters. The persecuted Jesus-follower in Iran matters. And not only do they all matter, but He has them all in the palm of His hand.

For God so loved the world — every nook and cranny of this heartbroken, varied, multi-colored world — that he sent his one and only son, that whoever follows him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

We get distracted, we get bogged down by fear, we get tired, lazy, and worn out. And we forget. We forget that He has the whole world in His hands.

Listen, we’re not here to fix or save the world.
(Let that sink in: we humans are not here to fix or save the world.)

Also: we’re still here. And since we’re still here, we’re meant to be a part of this story, and if we’re meant to be a part of the story then we are meant to be part of redemption. We’re meant to see redemption and we’re meant to experience redemption and we’re meant to be a picture of redemption.

As you work hard to make it through your day, may you experience God’s holding of you. And may you experience His love, His grace, His mercy, His compassionate hands. Because…

God’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got you and me brother in His hands. He’s got you and me sister in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands.

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