I’ve had this idea for a children’s message for a long time. I’ve decided that if I work it out here, I might actually get a chance to deliver it someday. The title should not seem so snarky after everybody hears the message.
Here’s my idea: I would bring several items to church that have a given number of parts. I’m thinking of a child’s wooden puzzle with maybe a half-dozen pieces; a small jar with, maybe, 15 or 20 jelly beans in it; a box of Cheerios; a bag of dry dog food; and a small vial with a little bit of sand.
I would start by asking the kids how many pieces were in the puzzle. They would count them and tell me. I’d then take out the jar of jelly beans and we would count those. Then I would ask them how many Cheerios there were in the box of cereal.
“Would you be able to count them all?” I’d ask. Of course, they’d say yes because, obviously, given enough time, they could certainly count all the Cheerios. At this point, I would say, “But God already knows how many are in here.”
Next would be the dog food. I would show them the tiny pellets and ask them if they’d be able to count all those little pellets. Perhaps they would hesitate at first, but, again, given enough time, they might actually be able to count all the pellets in a bag of dog food. “But, you know what?” I would say. “God already knows how many pellets of dog food there are in this bag.”
Then, finally, the sand. I picture myself dipping a finger into the vial, and then asking the kids to count all the grains of sand on my finger. At this point, I would hope that they were getting the idea: it would be very, very difficult to get an accurate count of every grain of sand on my finger.
“But, guess what? God knows exactly how many grains of sand are on my finger. In fact, God knows how many grains of sand are in this container. God even knows how many grains of sand there are on all the beaches of all the seashores all over the world!
“God knows! Do you want to know how many stars there are in the sky? Don’t try to count them – it would take you longer than your whole life to count them all. But, guess what? Say it with me: ‘God knows!’
“Not only does God know about the really big things like stars and suns and planets, but also about the tiniest little things, too. For example, God not only knows how many grains of sand were on my finger [assuming that, by now, I will have wiped them off, much to the chagrin of the church custodian], but how many molecules are in each grain of sand. And how many atoms are in each molecule. And how many electrons, neutrons, and protons are in each atom.
“There’s nothing that God does not know. And that’s what I mean by a “know-it-all God.” Our God knows everything. And that means that we can talk to God about anything.
Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for creating everything that is and for knowing everything about it. We pray that we can feel free to talk with you about anything and to remember that you are greater than anyone or anything else. In Jesus’ name. Amen.