Zechariah 1:7-11: a reflection

7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the LORD’s word came to the prophet Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying, 8“I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses. 9Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” 10The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to go back and forth through the earth.” 11They reported to the LORD’s angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.”

Zechariah sees a vision in the night: a rider on a red horse standing among the myrtle trees, with other horses behind him, and these, he is told, are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth, to go back and forth through all the world. They return with a report: We have walked back and forth through the earth, and all the earth is at rest and in peace. God, it seems, has messengers ranging over the whole earth, watching, patrolling, aware of everything that happens.

Notice the picture: God's agents traversing the whole earth, so that nothing anywhere escapes his notice. The vision reassures a struggling people that God is not distant or unaware; his eyes, through these patrolling riders, range over all the earth. Nothing happens outside his knowledge; the whole world is under his watchful oversight.

That is a comfort when we feel that God has lost track of us, or that our small corner of the world is beneath his notice. The God of this vision watches over the whole earth; nothing, and no one, escapes his attention. Your situation, however hidden or small it seems, is fully known to him; he sees it, as he sees all the earth. When you feel unseen or forgotten, remember Zechariah's vision: God's watchful care ranges over all the world, and it does not pass you by. Nothing is outside his notice. You are seen, and your circumstances are known to the God who watches over all the earth.

Lord, Zechariah saw your messengers patrolling the whole earth, watching, aware of everything, so that nothing escapes your notice. When I feel unseen or forgotten, or that my small corner of the world is beneath your attention, remind me of that vision. Your watchful care ranges over all the earth, and it does not pass me by. My situation, however hidden or small it seems, is fully known to you. Thank you that nothing, and no one, escapes your attention. Help me rest in the knowledge that I am seen, and my circumstances are known to the God who watches over all the world.