God bigger than any circumstance known

Imagine you are in a rocket and you can see our planet suspended in space. Looking down you see a small little blue ball called Earth with millions of people living on it. That alone makes me think of Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.”

God knows the vast amount of mankind who have lived or will ever live. He knows everyone by name, address and even the number of the hairs on their head.

Now that is a big God.

Technological advances are new every day. Scientists discover new knowledge every day that improves and extends our lifespan. As wonderful as that is, knowledge eventually comes to an end … “where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” 1 Corinthians 13:8). In eternity God’s children will be made perfect and be in God’s presence. He is the essence of all knowledge. That is a big God.

God is big enough to carry your burdens and mine. His shoulders are big and broad. Compared to this planet, we are just tiny little dots, but God is mindful of you and me.

Hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament tell of the coming of the Messiah, centuries before Jesus was born. In Isaiah 53:7-8, God pulls back the curtain of time so the people of Isaiah’s day could look ahead to the coming of the Lord: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people he was stricken.” (NIV)

How did the prophets of old know this? They knew their God. Blood is the atonement for sin. In the Old Testament, innocent animals had to be slain for the remission of peoples’ sins. Jesus, under the New Covenant, shed his blood for all mankind, once and for all.

I learned many hymns about the blood of Jesus and its atonement from my grandmother’s knees. They are still with me and I am reminded of God’s great sacrificial plan for all those who will receive it.

So God is big! He is bigger than any problem, any trial.

The next time you find yourself getting anxious, remember that your God is big. He is well able to handle any situation in your life. He cares about you. He is more than able. By letting go and letting God, you will find “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

I read the following story in an old church bulletin: “A business man drew up what he called a “Worry Chart,” on which he kept a record of his anxieties. He discovered many things about his worries:

• 40 percent were about things that probably would never happen.

• 30 percent concerned past decisions that he could not undo.

• 12 percent dealt with other people’s criticism of him.

l 10 percent were worries about his health.

• The man concluded that only 8 percent of his worries were really legitimate.

What about you and me? If we analyzed our worries I wonder what percent would be worth worrying, especially since we know God is big enough to carry them all.

Please don’t be like the man who said, “Don’t tell me worrying didn’t help. Look at all the things I worried about that didn’t happen!”

Montaigne has been quoted as saying, “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.”

Never mind the problems

Nor trials that come your way.

You’ll find peace and comfort

If you will only say,

“God is big!”

Joan Clayton is a retired teacher and religion columnist living in Portales.