Beyond the farthest mortal eye

“Thou who art beyond the farthest / mortal eye can scan, / can it be that Thou regardest / songs of sinful man? / Can we feel that Thou art near us / and will hear us? / Yea, we can.”- Angel Voices, Ever Singing, v. 2

“This will be in his own time, the final denouement of God, who is the blessed controller of all things, the king over all kings, the master of all masters, the only source of immortality, the one who lives in unapproachable light, the one who no mortal eye has seen or ever can see.  To him be acknowledged all honour and power for ever, amen!” – I Timothy 6:15-16 (PHILLIPS)

In late December2023, someone left five recently born kittens on the porch of Chasing Daylight Shelter in Tomah, WI.  Several months later and 167 miles away, my next-door condo neighbors submitted an application for two sibling kittens to the shelter.  Finally, on April 21, 2024, Marley and Maggie arrived at their forever home.  One week later, I (aka The Cat Whisperer) met the divas for the first time.  All under the control of our God — beyond the farthest mortal eye.

Whenever our condo neighbors leave for the weekend, I provide a full range of service to Marley and Maggie May.  I think the Divine Miss Ms know my footsteps.  Because Marley always greets me at the door.  Talkative kitties, they converse with expressive meows about their dinner wishes.  After dishing up the wet food, I clean both litter boxes.  Then, I place snacks in the palm of each hand.  Since Marley’s dish is on the right, she chooses my right hand.  Lastly, I sit with the girls and talk to them.

A very trusting relationship exists between the divas and me.  Writing in You Were Made for This Moment (2021), Max Lucado notes that he finds no comfort in the butterfly effect.  Simply put, a butterfly flaps its wings at just the right time, stirring the smallest of wind gusts.  As a result, that burst of air grows and grows until it results in a chaotic storm.

Hence, Pastor Lucado questions such a random act.  Certainly, small things lead to big events.  But under the blessed controller of all things.  In Esther 6 we read that when King Xerxes couldn’t sleep, he requested a reading of the book of records.  As the reading progressed, one item jumped off the scroll.  Mordecai reported an assassination attempt, saving the king’s life.

Above all, Max underscores, God orchestrated all the details.  The sleepless king, the detailed reading, and the Mordecai entry.  Just like, beyond the farthest mortal eye, God prompted someone to drop off five helpless kittens on a shelter porch.  And stirred the hearts of two caring condo neighbors to apply for two siblings.

Therefore, Pastor Lucado counsels:

“The next time you hear someone say, ‘The devil is in the details,’ correct them.  God is in the details.  He works in the small moments.  The insignificant becomes significant because he is ever orchestrating the day-to-day details of innumerable lives through a millennia of time to do what he has foreordained to do.”

In conclusion, Max asks, are you in need of a rescue?  Or available to rescue someone else?  Either way, Pastor Lucado encourages, keep praying.  Keep trusting.  So, stay in the game.  And choose the path of faith.  Most significantly, don’t reduce the size of your God and magnify your problems.  Simply obey what you know to do.  Yet, be patient while you wait for God, who art beyond the farthest mortal eye can scan.

Thus, Max offers these words of hope:

“In the midst of it all, the Lord still has his people.  And when they proclaim the truth of God in the middle of a crumbling world, you never know who might be changed.”