So, when was the last time God did something wonderful for you?  By the way, don’t give me the argument that you’re not important enough for God to pay any attention to what’s going on in your life.

After all, look at Mary and Elizabeth.  They may be famous today, but back then they were a couple of nobodies.  They weren’t rich.  They weren’t famous.  They didn’t spend their days rubbing elbows with the elite at the Jerusalem Country Club. That didn’t stop God though from reaching down from the heavens and blessing each of them with a miracle.

God doesn’t ask to see your bank account before doing something wonderful for you. God doesn’t care if you live in Harlem or Hyannisport.  God doesn’t care if you’re a CEO or CEO wannabe.  None of that matters to God.  The only think God wants to know is do you have faith?

It’s a simple question. Do you believe that God wants to do something wonderful for you?  Do you believe that God is ready, willing and able to be a part of your day to day life?  A little boy didn’t have any trouble answering that question.  One day he was sitting in church with his mother.  Everything was fine until his mother heard a loud whistle in the middle of the minister’s prayer.  When she realized that the whistle came from her son she was horrified.  “Whatever made you do that?” she asked with a scowl on her face. “Well,” the little boy replied without any hesitation at all. “I asked God to teach me how to whistle and just then he did.”

Mary and Elizabeth were full of joy because they saw God doing something wonderful for them and through them.  Joy comes when you’re willing to see God’s hand at work in the world around you and in the unfolding of your own life. By the way, according to director Frank Capra, that’s what the Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life is all about.  In an interview a number of years ago Capra said, “I believe the real message of It’s A Wonderful Life is this: that under the sun, nothing is insignificant to God.”

Nothing is insignificant to God.  Elizabeth wasn’t insignificant to God.  Mary wasn’t insignificant to God and you’re not insignificant to God either.

Some people though don’t believe that.  Deep down they’re convinced they really are insignificant.  Deep down they’re haunted by the feeling that they really don’t count.  It’s a spiritual disease that has infected the souls of a lot of people and robbed them of their joy.

They feel the same way Tom Southerland did about 20 years ago.  You may remember that Tom Southerland was held as a hostage for four years by Shiite terrorists in Lebanon.  In a speech that he gave after he was freed he said that being a hostage was “very lonely and you worry that people will forget you.” During his captivity he said he could hear his guards’ radio. So, he listened closely to the BBC news every night hoping to hear his name mentioned.  It never happened though and he figured that nobody knew he was being held hostage.  Finally, after four years of utter loneliness Tom Southerland was released.  He and his wife were flown back to the United States.  When they landed Southerland was amazed to see that there were television cameras and reporters along with a huge crowd at the airport.  He turned to his wife and suggested that a celebrity must be on the plane with them.  “Look around and see if you can spot who it is,” he said.  His wife was surprised.  “Honey,” she said, “they are all here for you!  It’s you!  This is all for you!”  At that point tom Southerland said he started to cry and couldn’t stop.  “I thought everybody had forgotten about me,” he said.  “I didn’t think anybody cared.  Thank God I was wrong.”