(2 minute read)
Yesterday I was driving with my oldest son in the car and we got to talking about proprioception—the sense we have of where our bodies are in space. I commented that I didn’t like being next to a jersey barrier on one side and a tractor trailer on the other. It made me feel squashed. I knew about proprioception from my studies and my son knew about it because he is a zoo keeper and had studied that sense in relation to animals. We were marveling about how that sense plays a key role in so many different situations. And I commented, “God’s creation is amazing!”.
Proprioception is a very important sense. Mostly we don’t run into walls or other things because we know where we are. We can sit down without looking at the chair. We can pick up our water glass even if our attention is on the person across the table from us. It really is amazing!
What if we had a spiritual sense like proprioception?
What if we could sense where we are in relation to God?
We can develop that kind of sense by drawing near to God. By spending time in prayer. By getting to know Him in all of His aspects and all His power and all His love.
Knowing where we are in relation to God helps us keep ourselves in perspective. We are in tune with His call in our lives and can hear His voice. Part of knowing where we are in relation to God is recognizing the wonder of His creation and His Truth that underlies reality.
God knew, when He created the universe, that we would need the sense of proprioception to extend beyond our bodies when we started using vehicles. He had this amazing plan for the whole universe so that in the fullness of time, humankind would live on Earth and eventually use vehicles to get around. He had this remarkable plan for you to exist at just this moment of time and have a part in His plan for the world. It’s mind-boggling trying to contemplate how marvelously big God’s plan is and yet how astonishingly individual.
I’m reminded of Psalm 8 (4-6): “When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place—What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor.” We look up at the night sky and can feel so small, but through God’s love and Jesus’s coming, we can say, like Paul, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20).
Jesus didn’t just die for the whole human race. He died to save me. And He died to save you. And He died for each of our children. And He died for that person that drives us crazy. He died for us individually, and He knew us by name. This is the Truth. And it is hard to wrap my head around.
Written by Kathy DeVet
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