Are You Too Small to Matter?

DO YOU sometimes feel that nobody cares about you? Have you ever felt lonely even though surrounded by people? Why should such thoughts assail you? Because in so many cases today the individual has ceased to count.

In many countries bureaucracy has converted people into items of data lost in a maze of computer software. They have become numbers, ciphers, for some faceless government agency. Do you have that feeling at times?

Or maybe you work for a big company with hundreds or thousands of employees. As a consequence you may feel that you are even less than a cog in a wheel or a thread in the fabric. Even those who dwell in vast cities can feel utterly lonely. Why is that? Because neighbors often are total strangers, just another number on the next door.

Yes, it is very easy to believe that you are too small to matter, too insignificant to be noticed in the hustle and bustle of present-day life. This is especially true in modern society, in which the competitive drive has produced so many people who are insensitive to one another. Personal dignity is trampled upon and “Drop dead!” is considered a smart answer.

But is it the same way with God? Is he, the Sovereign Lord of the universe, so superior to mankind that we are all too small to matter to him? The Bible indicates that on one occasion Jehovah God had “ten thousand times ten thousand [100 million]” angels standing before him. (Daniel 7:10) He is also the Creator of the countless stars in the universe. Has he perhaps lost track of all this spirit and material creation? The Bible answers: “He is counting the number of the stars; all of them he calls by their names.” (Psalm 147:4) Certainly, the celestial bodies are not out of control. As for the righteous angels, doubtless Jehovah calls them also by name, even though the names of only two of them, Michael and Gabriel, have been revealed to man.​—Daniel 12:1; Luke 1:26.

Then what about mankind? Does God care? The psalmist David wrote: “Cause me, O Jehovah, to know my end, and the measure of my days​—what it is, that I may know how transient I am. Look! You have made my days just a few; and my life’s duration is as nothing in front of you. Surely every earthling man . . . is nothing but an exhalation.” (Psalm 39:4, 5) If man is as transient as a mere exhalation, then how can we be sure that he is not too small and temporary for God to care about him? From God’s standpoint, do humans really matter? Do YOU really matter?