Day 34: The Vastness of God
Yesterday we pondered the “bigness” of God and how that good news could comfort us when we were counting on Him to rescue us. What if we feel so small, “less than,” and unworthy that we fear the greatness of God? Whether “big” is comforting or terrifying depends upon one’s point of view, right? Yesterday we learned that when Isaiah saw the vastness of God, he became undone. If all Isaiah saw of God was His bigness, he would have stayed undone. Isaiah knew another thing about God: the bigness of His heart.
“ “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and you iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.’ “
Isaiah 6:6-7
When confronted with the bigness of God, we realize our smallness. When granted the mercy, grace, and forgiveness of God, we are comforted.
Forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities…who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things…”
David speaking on the forgiveness of God in Psalm 103:2-5
If you've had a spiritual awakening, you know this stuff already in a profoundly personal way. But perhaps, as we wait for Jesus, we might benefit from remembering back to the days when we were more intimidated by God than intimate with Him. If you’ve got it all together (this must mean you are not living in the year 2020), pray for patience with those who are still running on empty. There is no need to give in to the temptation to make God smaller in a misguided attempt to comfort. Isaiah was undone, and it was the best thing that ever happened to him.
BUT...it was God who did the undoing. And that is significant. As we move toward our holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I pray we will figure out some small way to do a big thing: be a healer, a mender, a repairer of torn things. This is a year that has left most of us fragile. We should all have a sticker in plain sight: FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE. It probably wouldn’t hurt to also have a label that reads: THIS SIDE UP. Because - who knows what’s what this year?
