One thing that usually follows a rainy day is a horde of slugs, snails, and worms who mistakenly believe now is a good time to move house. They slide out onto driveways, public paths, even the roads. Naturally, this means many of them get crushed, or picked off by predators, none of which they are capable of avoiding due to their slow speed, and fragile defences.
Judging by the ever-increasing pile of snail guts, it doesn't seem most people care about this. The snails probably do, but some people care so little, they may even deliberately crush them. If snails are so insignificant to us, imagine what we are to God. The Bible says that God is so great, He has to stoop to observe the heavens and the earth (Psalm 113:5-6). The universe would not miss us if the sun exploded tomorrow and destroyed our entire solar system.
I like to rescue the snails I find. Not all of them, but if a snail is so foolish as to have practically jumped in front of my foot, I generally pick it up and place it gently on a wall, or in a bush, or just somewhere it won't get stepped on by the next person coming along.
Naturally, the snail actually resists. Pick a snail up, the first thing you notice is that it retreats into its shell. It knows I could seriously hurt it, maybe even kill it, and so it hides. This is both wise and futile. It is wise because it knows what I can do to it. It is futile, because there is nothing it can really do to avoid it. If I wanted to kill it, I could.
How well this represents us depends on how you look at it. One could say that we should respond to God as the snail does to us, because the action of retreating into its shell demonstrates its understanding. Its works show its faith, so to speak. If we, as Christians, know how powerful God is, should we not fear Him?
On the other hand, perhaps retreating into its shell better represents what we actually tend to do, rather than what we ought to do. Allowing our works to demonstrate our faith is good, but the snail isn't hiding to show it trusts us and acknowledges our superiority. No, it hides because it's scared. It is a show of resistance. A "last stand" kind of thing. We do this all too often with God, for though He has the power to destroy us, it is His will to save us, and His desire that we obey Him. None of our pitiful little shells can protect against Him, but His compassion for us is such that we know when God "picks us up", it is for our benefit. If it was His desire to harm us, we'd already be in Hell.
The snail analogy falls woefully short. Aside from the fact the snail is more significant to me than we are to God, I actually care less about the snail than God does for us. There are two big differences.
First, when I rescue a snail, my relationship with that snail ends there and then. I don't stick around long, if at all. I may never encounter that snail again, and it could easily get into more trouble later on.
Second, and more importantly, there is only so far I will go for a snail. It is no big deal to me to pick up a snail in the middle of a pavement. But what about a road? If I see a snail out there, I'm not going near it. There are some snails I do not bother to rescue, whether because they are in less danger, or because I just can't be bothered, which is especially the case when I've already rescued others. And if it was possible to become the snail in order to receive its fate in its place, do you think I would do this? I like snails, but I'm not especially interested in becoming one.
But Jesus, beyond all imagination, left His Heavenly throne, surrendered the glory He had with the Father before Creation, chose to be born to a mere maidservant, who married a carpenter, and served men to the point of washing a fisherman's feet. All of this leading up to dying on a cross, receiving the full wrath of God for sins He did not commit, not just to save one or two people, but to save all who will come to Him in faith.
My brethren, our God is great. We are not even snails in His sight, and yet He calls us children. We deserve His wrath, and yet He bought us an eternal inheritance with the blood of His own Son. Richer than the universe could offer, God chose the poverty of a first century carpenter. Our Creator became a part of the creation, choosing mortality over immortality, endured the scorn of those He came to save, what can possibly be said about this God to do Him justice?