He sees the sparrow

We lost our cat yesterday. Shadow was nearly twenty years old, and was clearly not well. Finally, she stopped eating.

I made an appointment. She wasn't happy about going in her carrier, and though she was tired and lethargic, still had an opinion about it.

I was sad too.

Today I was editing my current manuscript and realized one of my characters was grappling with something similar.

The crowd quieted, and a man advanced to the front, using a cane. He didn’t seem to be injured; instead, the end of the instrument gently probed the way to the pulpit.

When the minister faced the congregation, Robert was sure.

The man was blind. The preacher’s cloudy blue eyes failed to focus on any one person as he scanned the congregation. But as the man spoke, his handicap seemed to fall away. The Scriptures were ready on his tongue.

“In the Seventy-Sixth Psalm, we see the truth of divine Providence, a doctrine that is full and complete in the sacred oracles.”

Robert forgot the rebels surrounding him and soaked in the sermon.

“The sovereignty of God extends not only to things which we may think of great importance, and therefore worthy of notice, but also to things small and indifferent. ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing,’ says our Lord, ‘and one of them falleth not to the ground without your Heavenly Father’ . . .”

Sparrows. God ruled over sparrows.

The sovereignty of God extends to things big and small. Small like a cat. Yes, even a cat. And I don't think He mocks our feelings about such things.

Physicists speak of the "butterfly effect," the idea that a small thing can have large consequences. I wonder if God sorts things into "large" and "small." He is the First Cause, and every other cause is secondary. When He fed the Israelites, the manna was small and seemingly insignificant, yet when gathered, it sustained a nation for forty years.

His plan includes kings and kingdoms, sparrows and cats.