This question seemed incomprehensible to Gabriela, who thought it was perfectly obvious that the three cats are completely different. Tobi is tiny, beneath all that fluffiness, and has widely spaced green eyes that always give her a faintly surprised expression. Tamba is short-haired, soft as velvet, and has yellow eyes like round copper pennies. And Teddi, Gabriela's special buddy, is twice as big, twice as fluffy, and almost twice as heavy as either of the other two. To Gabriela's friend, a visitor to our home, they are simply three black cats that are not particularly distinguishable one from another. Gabriela, however, who is very fond of our three fluffy friends, simply can't imagine how anyone could think that all three look the same.
This reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago with a young person at a KKI camp in South Africa. I had been teaching about how each person on earth is "special and unique," and of infinite value to Father God. "But how can that be possible?" asked this teenage girl. "There are six billion people on earth. How can each one of them have a special place in God's heart?" In response, I told her the true story of something that happened to friends of ours. Their youngest child, aged only two years old, had fallen into a swimming pool and drowned. When friends and family gathered for the funeral, one lady - no doubt in an attempt to comfort them - said, "I am so sorry for your loss, but at least you can take consolation in the fact that you still have three other children at home." These words, although well intentioned, did nothing to lessen the sadness of those grieving parents. It was true that they had three other children, whom they also loved dearly.... but the existence of three others didn't in any way cancel out the loss of the precious child who had died. Each child held a unique and special place in the hearts of those parents.
"And it's exactly the same with God," I told that teenage girl. "Even if several million or billion people on earth are loving and serving God, He will still miss YOU if you mistrust Him or turn your back on Him. You have a special place in His heart that no one else can fill." For some people, the earth's inhabitants are just six billion faceless individuals - as indistinguishable from one another as those three black cats are to Gabriela's schoolfriend. But to a God who created us (and who loves us even more than Gabriela loves those cats!) each one is known by name and is a unique and special individual in His sight.
