Special snowflake

As I've been trying to shake the crazy patriarchal garbage out of my skull, I've been actively trying to befriend more folks who aren't super conservative Christians.  It's nice to expand my horizons and meet people who challenge my beliefs.  It's comforting to know that there are many, many people out there who love Jesus fiercely, but aren't swigging the dominionist patriarchal kool-aid.  And it's good for me to hear honest critique of Christianity.

I often find myself reevaluating the things I hold dear.  And realizing how silly, and frankly unimportant,  some of the things we churchy folk do and profess.

One specific idea that I've been wrestling with is the idea of a personal God.  Conservative bloggers get mocked when they write things like, "Look at the gorgeous sunset God blessed me with," or "God really provided today.  I went to the market and they had a surplus of apples.  I scored several baskets for only $3 and canned a ton of applesauce."  As if they were God's special snowflake and God does things just for them.

It can be hard to reconcile a God who helps me find my keys with the God of the Calcutta slums.  Why does He paint me gorgeous vistas, when children across the world are living in a refuse pile or being forced into prostitution at seven years old?

Why does He care about my little needs when theirs are so big?

And I don't know.

I know that sin and decay have wrought destruction on our planet.  One needs only pick up a newspaper to see the crime and corruption running rampant in our world.  Famine, disease, war, greed, and pollution threaten millions worldwide.  Natural disasters bury cities or sweep them out to sea.  As a race and as a planet, we are broken.

I know that God has embarked on a dramatic rescue plan through His Son to redeem us and make things new.

But it hasn't come into its fullness yet.

The world still heaves with labor pangs.

But what does this mean in regards to a personal God?  The One who knows every hair on my head?  How can He care about my petty wants and seem to ignore the real needs of dying children?

Maybe that is the answer.

God really does care about my little needs.  But only because He wants me to be whole.  He wants me to be full and healthy and ready.  Because this kingdom He is building comes through us, His church, His bride.  And we have to be His hands.  We must take the care we have received from the hands of our loving God and let it energize us to reach out.  Let it empower us to reach the least of these.

It's the only way it makes sense.

Because a God who cares even the tiniest bit about your providential double coupon cares a heck of a lot more about a starving child.  And He is counting on us to stop naval-gazing and give everything back.

We really are His special snowflakes.

But so are they.