Question
Hi Gramps,
If the soul of man is precious to God and is worth much, why are we reminded over and over about our nothingness in the scheme of things?
Joan
Answer
Dear Joan,
Something I have been thinking a lot about lately is perception. You feel that we are reminded over and over about our nothingness, but for me it has been the opposite. In my experience we are reminded over and over that we are precious to God. That doesn’t mean that your experience is wrong, just that we have had different experiences or perceive things differently.
Once in a BYU Speech, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf talked about the poem regarding the three blind men and the elephant. Each standing in different locations described the elephant very differently. The one by the tail had a very different idea of what an elephant is like than the one who touched its leg. As the poem said, all were right and all were wrong.
What I’m trying to say Joan is that both are true, we are precious to God and we are nothing in the grand scheme of things. I like to think of it this way–when we consider all the people who have lived on the earth throughout time, and then think of how small the earth is compared to the other planets, and then how our universe is just a small part….it is absolutely mind boggling. And yet, with all that, the Lord knows you personally Joan. Isn’t that amazingly wonderful? He knows your name. He loves you. He died for you. THAT is what matters. You know Him too Joan, you just don’t remember. We all do. We lived with Christ and our Heavenly Parents in the Pre-existence and we know them and they know us.
Elder Uchtdorf, one of the witnesses Christ has called to testify of Him has said,
“Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.” (The Love of God)
This previously answered question might also help you. I invite you to read it: Does God stop our healing and successes and just hurt us if we don’t repent?
Gramps
