So here I am, sitting in a shopping mall food court. My body is tense, my stomach knotted. My to-do list is long and my progress this particular day is disappointing. Unexpected complications have brought delays and I’m fretting over the deadlines ahead: a radio show to plan, an article to write, the myriad details of a national project I’m coordinating.
I unwrap my burger, take a bite, and for a few minutes I am forced to pause. Busy people rush around me, fretting over their own deadlines. And I am struck by humanity’s finitude. We are limited beings—limited in time, energy, ability, and capacity.
And while everything in me wants to write a new to-do list—prioritize it in order of importance, asterisk the urgent tasks, and underline those to be done together-another thought enters my mind:
A thought of One who is infinite (Isaiah 40:25).
A Being who is unlimited.
A Person who effortlessly melds the desire to do and the ability to accomplish.
This God, Isaiah says, can measure the oceans in the hollow of one hand, and collect the dust of the earth in a basket (v.12 NIV). He names the stars of the heavens and directs their paths (v.26); He knows the rulers of the world and controls their influence (v.23). He is enthroned above the universe (v.22), God views the islands as specks of dust, and nations as drops of water in the ocean (v.15).
“To whom will you compare Me?” the Almighty asks (v.25). “The Lord is the everlasting God . . . . He never grows weak or weary” (v.28).
Stress, rush, and strain are never good for one’s health, but on this day they deliver a powerful lesson. The unlimited God is not like me. He accomplishes everything He wishes.I finish my burger, pause once more. And silently worship.
More:
• Job 38–41
• Psalm 139:1-16
Next:
Considering my limited resources, how will I rely on the unlimited God? During this busy day, how will I worship the infinite One?
Keneld on April 30, 2009 at 6:53 am
Excellent ………He is so powerful and I keep bringing him down to my level…….Thanks for a powerful word this morning……..
yen.ivan on April 30, 2009 at 9:06 am
This article just reflects my situation.
Somtimes I forget I am limited, so that I
try to break through my limitation. It
makes me exhausting all the time.
God is unlimited,
we just need to count on him. Thank you
for your message. It is wonderful.
Mark L on April 30, 2009 at 9:29 am
Isaiah 40:12.. Try to picture in your mind how big God is? Now think about how infinitesimal we are. Yet Our Fathers knows how many hairs are on the head. He knew us before we where in our mothers womb. He knows when a sparrow falls from the sky. He causes the seed to sprout and there would be nothing if God did not make it. Have you ever stood in a clear spot away from the city lights? Looked up at the stars in awed by the vast unlimited expanse of the universe and offered up a prayer to the God of our salvation. Realizing through all that vastness He hears us even over all the noise of this world.
Now think the next time trials and tribulations come along, doubts enter in, ask yourself, so how big is you’re God?
Nikolene on April 30, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Thank you for the “a-ha” moment in the middle of a busy workday, and putting into perspective all the insignificant issues that had been clouding my brain. I feel refocussed on what is truly important.