A loud song I sing

God is in the details.

That's the phrase that has been resounding in my head this Sunday morning.

Mies Van Der Rohe originally said the words. He was speaking of the value of simplicity and restraint in architectural design.

I wasn't so much thinking about it in architectural terms today. I was thinking of this.

Look at the detail around the eyes. We saw this bird at the Toledo Zoo a few weeks ago and I was amazed. The imagination of God is as profound as any other aspect of his person. Endlessly creative. The originator of beauty. And color. And detail.

We worked with the preschoolers this morning. The theme was Following Jesus. We made cute little flip-flops out of foam. The kids decorated with stickers, markers and the words - Follow Jesus.

After the service, while Bob and Matthew were working with the Road Crew, I was sitting in a random spare chair backstage -- feeding Nolan. The tear down folks had music playing in the auditorium and it was making its way to my ears as Nolan chugga-lugged on his bottle. It was an old Sixpence None the Richer tune.

I smiled.

God is in the details.

I first heard that same Sixpence None the Richer song after my friend Ben passed their cd along to me more than ten years ago, during my senior year of college. Ben was my new-music supplier. Being the compulsive cd jacket reader that I am, I searched their artwork for the meaning of their odd band name. The answer was C.S. Lewis and his book Mere Christianity. They were inspired by Lewis's description of how everything we have is from God, even the gifts we give him.

When we talk of a man doing anything for God or giving anything to God, I will tell you what it is really like. It is like a small child going to his father and saying, "Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present." Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child's present. It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction.

I thought: Wow. I have to read this book. And I did. I scarfed it down in a day and then reread the first seventy pages a few times through. Just in time to walk into the cafeteria at school and have a friend say something like," I've decided that architecture is my religion. Does anyone have anything to say about that?"

I don't know exactly what our conversation went like. But I do know that God was very present. And C.S. Lewis's presentation of truth and Jesus, fresh in my mind, seemed to be just what God had prepared my friend Erik to hear.

I brought the book for him the next day. He wasn't around. I was a little worried. But I shouldn't have been.

God is in the details.

Erik had, in fact, gotten his hands on Mere Christianity on his own. And stayed up all night reading it. Searching it out. He could tell you about his journey better than me, but when I saw him next, he said this:

"A few days ago, I didn't believe in God and thought, if Jesus existed, he was just a man. Today I know God exists and I think Jesus might have everything to do with my life."

Really?! Wow. There have only been a few other times in my life when I so thoroughly felt like I was used by God to achieve his life-changing, life-redeeming plans in someone else. It's an exhilaration that truly never wears off. I still think about it all the time.

Today, while holding my hungry little baby in the midst of post-church hustle-bustle, God brought it to mind again. With the thought of following him, in all the little details that he orchestrates. And how maybe there have been more of those moments than I realize. Small little details that I wasn't aware were connected to someone's greater story.

Like Ben probably doesn't even realize that putting that cd in my hand led me to C.S. Lewis which led me to the lunch table that day.

God is in the details.

But not only there. He's also a big picture God. And we can trust him. With the big, the small, the in-between. There is no greater adventure than following where he leads. Whether that entails passing something to a friend, opening your mouth to speak his name or caring for your children with his love and gentleness. It's always an unexpected ride. We'll never know all the ways that our ride is connected to someone else's journey. But we know that, when we follow where he leads, sometimes we plant, sometimes we water, and sometimes we sow. Only God makes it all grow. Isn't it wonderful, though, when you get to see the bloom?

I am thankful that God made me smile this morning. With a simple song. And a quote by a famous architect. The reminder that he is in the details of my life. And the lives of those around me. And that it's always worth it to follow his every prompting.

Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?