Pastor Dan Mielke

Grace Baptist Church

Is your God too big? Too big to care about the little parts of our lives, too big to listen to a small child’s prayer? These were the questions that I, as a dad, wrestled through in our mini-van last Monday night when my 6-year-old told me, “Daddy, I lost my ring!”

For a little background, my youngest son had professed faith in Christ as his Savior, so my wife and I decided to purchase a tangible reminder of his faith by buying him a ring with Jesus’ name emblazed on the outside against a glow in the dark background.

I presented it to him for his sixth birthday and explained to him that it was to remind him that Jesus is the light of the world and that just like the ring was circular and had no ending, God’s love for him also had no ending.

He wore the ring with the excitement of youth, and explained his commitment to Jesus and excitement to everyone he met. This is why my heart stopped when he told me that he had lost his ring. I asked the standard dad question, “Where did you last have it?” And he told me, “At the park, I put it in the sand so that it would charge in the sun.”

A million thoughts raced across my mind as we hopped into the minivan. The ring was no bigger than a dime, it had been over two hours since we were at the park, dozens of kids had been running across the sand, the glow charge would not last very long … Do I even ask my young boys to pray, and have them be disappointed?

As I drove, I heard a little voice from the back seat, “God, please help me find my ring, it means so much to me.”

We arrived at the park around dusk, and walked to where my son was when he last had the ring, only to find out the chances of finding it went from improbable to impossible.

My son explained that he stood next to the play equipment and threw it to get closer to the sun and did not know where it landed.

We prayed one more time and began the search. With the two boys on each side, we searched with heads down covering about a three foot wide swath in the direction in which the ring had been thrown. After traveling about 10 feet, we turned around, and headed back toward the equipment and right before us covered in sand surrounded by footprints was the ring.

On the drive home, I heard a little voice say, “Dear God, thank you for letting us find the ring, I just love You.”

I could not help but think God wanted to teach me, that nothing is either too big or too small for Him to be concerned about.

Have you brought your small concerns to God? Maybe life has tried to convince you that God isn’t concerned about your life, and you are afraid to ask a request of God for fear of disappointment.

Even though prayer is not about putting a dollar into a cosmic vending machine to get what we order, God delights in showing Himself strong and giving good gifts to His children.