Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Bigger Still

"...He displays His power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet." Nahum 1:3b

Just yesterday my friend sent me some pictures. She had told me about the destruction a burst pipe had created in her home and I imagined the mess, but my mind had not come close to envisioning the size of the chaos. Walls torn back to the studs. Flooring removed. The entire interior was gutted. It will be months before it is livable again. A small oversight, not of her doing, has resulted in a big disaster. Thankfully the Lord is providing, and she does have other accommodation.

Have you ever felt something was big and then once you experienced it, big doesn't begin to describe its magnitude? Reading about the Grand Canyon is one thing, standing on the edge and overlooking its grandeur is another. Seeing pictures of the Swiss Alps, the photography portrays their beauty, but climbing their heights puts their size in perspective. Without encountering some things ourselves, our minds are too guarded in their creativity. Our world is often too small.

Reading in Nahum that the billowing clouds are the dust beneath God's feet, my concept of His greatness grew a little bit more. Maybe it is because we are taught that the Lord lives within us by the presence of His Holy Spirit making Him seem too containable, or maybe knowing His Son walked this earth in the form of a man makes Him seem too human, but far too often our understanding of the largeness of the Lord is guarded by our perceived reality. 

Clouds, that look massively huge to us, even from earth, are described as the dust beneath the feet of God. Stop and think about that. Do you know that the largest particles of dust are roughly the width of a human hair? Are you envisioning this? The "largest" particles of dust are no wider than a strand of our hair. That is how the clouds appear beneath the feet of God. Are you starting to get the idea? Does this help broaden your understanding of the immense power and presence of God?

Do we comprehend that for something like the clouds, something so large to us, yet described as something so miniscule in the Lord's perspective, can only mean that our God is BIG! Years ago, I did a Bible study that included in the lessons a poem entitled, "Bigger Still". As the writer shared scenario after scenario in rhyme of times she went to the Lord with needs, each incident requiring increasingly more and more of God's provision in order to make it through, she continued to learn that God is bigger still. Regardless of how big our minds stretch concerning God; He will always be bigger still.

The Creator of the universe is beyond our comprehension. Even with intentional efforts to expand our understanding of God, while walking this earth we will have limited ability to take in His greatness. Back in 1952, J. B. Philipps wrote a book entitled, "Your God is Too Small". In it he points out that many Christians do not see God as big enough to handle their needs. Sadly, this conclusion is then reached by those watching Christ-followers. But all is not loss. There are others, albeit a smaller number, who have trusted Him in Doctor's offices, unemployment lines, barrenness, broken marriages, heartaches over prodigals, financial loss, and by experience, have tasted that God is immeasurably bigger.

I do not know what trial you are currently facing, but God is bigger. Ask God to give you a clearer vision of His greatness as you look to the clouds and remember that they are dust beneath His feet.


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