How Big Is Your God?

The book of Isaiah has always been one of my favorites in the Old Testament. Isaiah was a prophet that preached to the nation of Judah during a time of great spiritual decline. He said, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” (Isaiah 1:2)

Starting in chapter forty through the end of the book, God speaks specifically to His people through the prophet Isaiah. Chapter forty starts out with the words, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.” And how does God comfort His people? Throughout these chapters, God reasons with His people.

Basically the message through these chapters is, “Look to Me. I am the LORD your God. I am the Creator, the all-powerful God. I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. I love you, I have redeemed you. I have written your name on my hands. Why do you serve idols—they are only made by man and have no power? If you will repent of your sins and turn to me, I will save you and bless you.”

Throughout these chapters, Isaiah uses several word pictures to demonstrate to the people the great power of God. One of my favorites is found in Isaiah 40:12, where God asks the question, “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?”

It reminds me of the questions that God asked Job when He showed up in the whirlwind. Job had basically been accusing God of not caring what happened to him. God reminded Job that He was powerful and had everything under control, and everything that happened was for a reason. Job just needed to trust God.

Sometimes when we are going through trials, we look at the problem and the situation around us and we tend to become overwhelmed. We forget to look at God and remember that He is all-powerful, He has all things under His control, and everything that happens in our life is for a reason. A good cure for this is to remind ourselves just Who God is and how powerful He actually is.

Isaiah pictures God as the One who can measure the waters in the hollow of His hand.

Just picture yourself standing by the ocean with the water stretching as far as you can see. Look at all that water, and then look at your hand and picture yourself trying to measure all that water in your hand! It would be totally and completely impossible!! Yet our God is so big, He can measure an ocean in just one of His hands!

Second, God is pictured as being able to measure the heavens with His hand.

So picture yourself standing outside and gazing up at the heavens. Now imagine reaching your hand up towards the sky to measure out the whole heavens with one hand. Totally impossible!! Yet our God can do it!

Third, Isaiah says that God can measure all the dust that is in the earth.

So now picture yourself standing in the Sahara desert with sand stretching as far as you can see in all directions. Now imagine taking a measuring cup and measuring all that sand. Impossible for us, but not for our God!!

Fourth, God is pictured as weighing all the mountains and the hills in a scale.

So imagine yourself standing at the foot of Mount McKinley with your bathroom scales and trying to figure out how much that mountain weighs. No man could do such a thing, but God can!

What an awesome, powerful God we serve! And to think that such a God would love me and want to have a relationship with me!! When I look at my God—at who He is and what He has done—I remember that nothing is impossible for Him. He can handle whatever problem or trial I have. It reminds me of a song that I heard entitled, When Compared to God. The chorus goes like this:

And compared to God, everything’s small.

There is no giant that compares at all

To the Holy One who sits upon His throne.

So when you face a mountain so high

One glimpse of God brings it down to size.

Satan will flee, you will gain victory—

When you compare it to God.

So, how big is your God? Is He big enough to handle your problems and trials? Or do you think you need to help Him out? Can you trust Him to know what is best for your life? A fresh look at our God, His power and His might and His love, will help put things in a right perspective! Don’t look at your problems—look at your God!