God Is In the Details

 August 28, 2014

I love this saying! Most of us are familiar with the phrase, “the devil is in the details.” What I didn’t know is that originally the phrase was “God is in the details,” or so I found out from Rob Eager’s post this week. Rob states, “According to the Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, this phrase actually derives from an earlier phrase, ‘God is in the detail,’ which expresses the idea that whatever one does should be done thoroughly.” (For whole post click here )

I love the idea that God is so involved in our lives that he even pays attention to details. When you think about it, it makes sense. Just look at the detail in the human body – fingernails and opposable thumbs. Someone less detail oriented might have said, “They have limbs. Isn’t that enough?” God must have gone through a number of rough drafts before he came up with the human hand.

(Picture of some of the many flowers along Falling Waters Trail bike path, Jackson, MI)

Look at the features of a leaf. Consider how the veins create a place to attach the leafy webbing. Or the way leaves take in CO2 and the wonder of photosynthesis creating food out of the air. And the colors that come in the fall. Amazing! And don’t get me started on flowers. Awesome! It only could have been fashioned by a God intimately involved with creation, not a God far away in the clouds, looking on from outer-space.

And so, if God is concerned about details, maybe I can take a little more time to pay attention to the small things that matter so much: taking extra care on that final edit before sending my writing out into the world; spending time crimping the edges of my pies so they look nicer; cutting a sprig of flowers to brighten my living space; or stopping long enough in my rush to complete all of the items on my list to say hello to a neighbor.

(Then again, God has eternity to do all he wants to do and we have but this limited  life-time. God doesn’t have to worry about running out of time; we do. Just saying . . .)

The devil is also in the details. That’s how he trips us up, telling us something or someone is not important. He uses his knowledge of details to know just how to get to us.

But God is in the details – that means our God notices all of the small ups and downs of everyday life and how we handle them. That means that no-one is insignificant, just a detail, easily written off. God will notice details of kindness when others don’t.

So, what do you think? Is God present in the details of your life?

If you are a writer and not familiar with Rob Eager of Wildfire Marketing, check out his website, www.startawildfire.com. I attended his marketing seminar as part of the Write-to-Publish conference in 2013 and repeatedly reference his book, Sell your Book Like Wildfire, for marketing ideas. He also has helpful blog posts on marketing.