Resting in the Arms of a Huge God

I found out today that my bank, due to "suspicious" activity on my account, has turned off (or, as they put it, "placed restrictions") on my Check card. It's a minor problem, but there have been lots of little things over the past three days that have served to really cause me to be frustrated. I've come to determine that if I didn't believe in the hugeness of God, I wouldn't have made it until now.

The words "Huge God" aren't just something clever I came up with for the title of this blog. They were carefully selected. I wanted something to capture the absolute bigness of God. And, yes, "huge" is a feeble attempt to capture his bigness. My understanding of God has grown considerably from when I first believed. Back then, he was a disciplinarian who was ready to cut me off if I did X sin "one more time." He was a kind of cosmic Santa, keeping track of my good deeds and bad deeds. And he was still distant - out there somewhere, not intimately involved in my life.

But as I have grown in my understanding of God and his ways, I've seen the true side of him (or at least as true as I can comprehend right now). He's not a harsh disciplinarian; he is a loving Father who will, when necessary, discipline his children (Hebrews 12:4-11). He's not distant and uninvolved, but very much connected to his creation and to us, his people.

But the greatest thing that I have learned about God over the years is that he is HUGE! When I was a child, I learned (like you may have) the song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." But do you know what I've learned? He doesn't have the whole world in his hands. Consider with me God's description of himself through Isaiah:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?...He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. (Isaiah 40:12, 22, NIV)

Here, God says that he spread the heavens (universe) out like a curtain. And do you know how he measures the universe? The span of his hand. It's kind of like saying that "He's Got the Whole Universe in his HAND." Now I realize that this is poetic and the song is poetic and when we get right down to it, God doesn't literally have arms and hands (God is spirit - see John 4:24). But still, God lets us know that he is absolutely huge, and that he is absolutely in control.

God is announcing in this chapter that the nation of Judah is going to be destroyed. In the process, he reminds the people that he is in control, that he is God, unrivaled and unstoppable. And how does he introduce this section? Look at Isaiah 40:1 - "Comfort, comfort my people says your God."

It is a comforting thing to know that God is in control, that even when tragedy happens, he is in charge and that he wants us to rest in him. So whether it's a turned off ATM card or some sort of abuse or suffering, God wants you to know that you are not beyond his reach. Take comfort in the arms of this HUGE GOD!

How has God shown you his might and comfort during difficult times in your life? Where would you be if you didn't think he was in control?