The origin of the quote “God is in the details” isn’t clear, but it has been attributed to various sources. Some believe it was first used by Gustave Flaubert, a French novelist who believed that perfection could only be achieved through meticulous attention to detail. Others attribute it to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a German-American architect who believed that design should focus on simplicity and functionality while still paying attention to every small detail. So, what might this tell us about God? Is God in control of every facet of creation? To what extent? Let’s unpack this a bit shall we?
As with every confession of Christian truth, our confession of “God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth” has ramifications beyond the actual words themselves. When we say this, we mean far more than that He created everything out of nothing, as important as that truth is. We also mean that because the universe comes from His hand, it also depends on Him for its continued existence. And, as the Heidelberg Catechism (Q &A 27) explains, we also mean that all creation remains under His control, though exactly what that means is hard, if not impossible to know.
This control extends even to what we might otherwise consider insignificant. Jesus Himself teaches this point; indeed, it is revealed throughout Scripture. In Matthew’s gospel (10:29-31), Jesus points out that even though two sparrows are sold for a penny, the average daily wage for a poor worker in ancient Palestine, God still has enough regard for these creatures that even their fall from the sky is ordained in His providential rule. In fact, without His sovereign control, the birds would not be here at all, let alone follow flight paths under His direction. The application should be obvious, but Jesus states it explicitly so that we do not miss it: if God is concerned with even the insignificant sparrow, how much more is He concerned with us, His image-bearers?
The saying “God is in the details” is used to emphasize the importance of paying careful attention to the tiniest things. That principle holds, but there is a greater theological sense to these words, namely, that our Creator reigns fully over every detail. The control God exercises over everything that ever happens demonstrates that there is some significance to all that we do. In turn, this means that we should give thought to our actions and how we spend our time. The Lord is gracious, so we should not be paranoid and legalistic about making sure every moment is filled with what we might regard as self-evident “kingdom work.” But we should take care not to waste the time God has given us.