Just How Big is God?

Do you know how many different rabbits there are nibbling at your garden? Could we possibly know how many leaves are on all of the trees in California? Or what is the exact number of plankton in the ocean? Just how many children are there in the world that do not have a safe and loving home? Or exactly how many people are going to get wonderful, life-changing news today?

Does anyone know the answer to these questions?

Yes!

What about questions from the past–like what caused Hitler and Stalin to grow up with such maniacal evil embedded in their hearts? Or what exactly was going through the mind of missionaries such as Gladys Aylward and David Livingstone as they traveled to mission fields that were completely heathen and utterly unknown? Or what about our questions about our own personal pasts–such as questions about abusers and favoritism and broken relationships. Or the solutions to the puzzles and mysteries that surround the people we love that remain unanswered.

Does anyone know the answer to these questions and mysteries?

Yes!

What about the burning questions of the future many of us are considering right now– What is going to happen to our country? How bad is it going to get? What kind of world will our children and grandchildren grow up in? Will Christ come and rapture us anytime soon?

Does anyone know the answer to these questions?

Yes!

GOD KNOWS.

Now before we dismiss this gigantic thought, let’s let it sink into our brains just a bit. God knows everything. He is not limited by time or space. He is not limited by equations or natural laws. He knows all things at all times. He has known all things from the beginning of time and knows what is to come for eternity. He knows every insignificant detail about everything. He knows what every molecule in the universe is doing at this very moment. Everything.

God has been teaching me this over the past month or so. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending Pastor Dean’s Bible Study (my brother). I only wish I lived close enough to go every week. He is currently doing a study on the Doctrine of God. In just a short hour, I realized that although I already had a big view of God, it really wasn’t big enough.

And then, a week or two later, as I was reading from the Gospel of Matthew (my pastor has given the congregation a 2016 Read through the Gospels schedule and I am enjoying it immensely!), I came across these verses in Matthew 10, which confirmed what I was already beginning to realize–

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ³⁰ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Now think about this. Really think about this. Not one sparrow falls that God doesn’t know about. It doesn’t say not one in this city or not one in this country but not one.

This is just how big our God is.

What He writes in His word is true. What He does is perfect. His plan is best.

So often we try to create a God that makes sense to us. We want Him to see things like we do and to respond and react like we would. Our impression of how God handles things is based on our human and flawed sense of fairness.

When something doesn’t seem fair to us or we come to something like the doctrine of election and free will, we become very frustrated that we can’t understand. Some throw their hands in the air and walk away, saying God mustn’t exist. Or this isn’t the kind of God I want to serve.

I’d like to share with you an example given by Pastor Dean that really helped me to find a little perspective in this.

Let’s say we try to teach our 3 year old child (or grandchild) about Calculus. However, they are just not mature enough yet to grasp such a complex subject. Now will that three year old look at you with disgust and say, “If I don’t understand this, then it just can’t be true!” No, he won’t do this because he trusts you–the person in his life who cares for him. He will trust that you know what you are talking about even if he is incapable of understanding it.

Doesn’t this give added insight to these verses–

and {Jesus} said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4)

To truly understand salvation means casting aside our arrogance and belief that we can know everything that God knows. That we can understand everything God understands. It means trusting in our Heavenly Father even when we can’t understand. Especially when we can’t understand.

Somehow as we grow into adults many of us believe we should be able to understand everything about God. And yet the gulf between a child’s brain and adult’s brain is microscopic compared to the gulf between God’s understanding and our understanding.

If we can truly begin to grasp this, then how we look at all of life changes. It changes how we approach the Word of God. It changes how we pray. It changes how we view sin. And how we view salvation.

God is more than we could ever think. Bigger than we could ever imagine. More powerful than we could dream. This shouldn’t only make us feel safe and secure, but should drive us to humble ourselves before His throne, declaring ourselves to be unworthy of His grace and mercy.

Our perception of God truly changes everything.