I confess, sometimes I wonder if God really knows what He is doing. Sometimes I wonder if He really cares about what is going on in my life when He's got a whole world full of people with problems far more serious than mine. But then, I have to stop and realize that the image of God I have is far too small.

Last night, I listened to a talk with a friend of mine given by Louie Giglio. He was challenging this skewed view of God. Isaiah 40:12 talks about how God measures the span of the universe with His hand. The vastness of the universe is beyond me...and yet it's tiny in comparison to God.

In reality, this makes me feel tiny. Possibly insignificant. I mean, God has to keep things moving...stars are constantly being born. He's got to keep our galaxy in order so that we don't burn up or freeze to death...but the mere fact that He does this very thing says a lot. And while He made all this beauty to reflect Himself and to bring glory to Him...we get the privilege of "discovering" it (as Louie says, I'm sure God laughs every time we "discover" something new). Just take a look at these pics from NASA to see some of the breath-taking views God has given us. These awesome sights ought to cause praise to pour forth from our lips as we begin to grasp, ever so slightly, how big this God is who loves tiny little us.


And incase we miss this somehow, He has placed a reminder in space for us. This is found in the center of the whirlpool galaxy above. Scientists may call it an "X", but see what you think:

The Whirlpool Galaxy is located 37 million light years from the earth. It is more than 100 thousand light years across. It is estimated that there are more than 160 billion stars in this galaxy. This picture was taken by the Hubble Space telescope.

Consequently, after watching this talk with my friend, I read in the Old Testament about Elijah and how God directed him to seek out this widow and her son as God provided daily for them. Sometime thereafter, her son died. And I can hear her anguish as she cries to Elijah, the man of God, asking why her son had died. And then having to entrust this same man with her dead son's body as God allowed him to be raised from the dead through Elijah. In all of this, as senseless as it seems, God had a plan. A plan to reveal Himself to this widow and her son.

Therefore, when I am tempted to consider God as "small"...I need to be reminded that He measures the universe in the span of His hand...that He is clearly evident in all I see around me...the hug from a friend, the snow on my face, or the laughter He gives...He is a big God who is concerned about the little things in my life and loves me intensely. As Brennan Manning would say, "My Abba is very fond of me." It's hard to believe in the tough times...but He's got a reason...a method behind the madness.

And that, my friends, is a reason to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving.