Isaiah 40:12-31 (NLT)
Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed out the mountains and the hills?
Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD?
Who knows enough to be his teacher or counselor?
Has the LORD ever needed anyone's advice?
Does he need instruction about what is good or what is best?
No, for all the nations of the world are nothing in comparison with him.
They are but a drop in the bucket, dust on the scales.
He picks up the islands as though they had no weight at all.
All Lebanon's forests do not contain sufficient fuel
to consume a sacrifice large enough to honor him.
All Lebanon's sacrificial animals
would not make an offering worthy of our God.
The nations of the world are as nothing to him.
In his eyes they are less than nothing
mere emptiness and froth.
To whom, then, can we compare God?
What image might we find to resemble him?
Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold,
and decorated with silver chains?
Or is a poor person's wooden idol better?
Can God be compared to an idol
that must be placed on a stand so it won't fall down?
Have you never heard or understood?
Are you deaf to the words of God
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?
It is God who sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below must seem to him like grasshoppers!
He is the one who spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.
He judges the great people of the world
and brings them all to nothing.
They hardly get started, barely taking root,
when he blows on them and their work withers.
The wind carries them off like straw.
"To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One.
Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out one after another, calling each by its name.
And he counts them to see that none are lost or have strayed away.
O Israel, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?
How can you say God refuses to hear your case?
Have you never heard or understood?
Don't you know that the LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth?
He never grows faint or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to those who are tired and worn out;
he offers strength to the weak.
Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up.
But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength.
They will fly high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Hallelujah! What an awesome, infinitely great and glorious God! This is an incredibly powerful passage of scripture that just keeps coming at us with heart piercing challenges, demanding that we answer the question, “Who is great like our God?”
If we really let the challenge of this passage reach our hearts we will be overcome with brokenness over our doubts, anxieties, and fears. For what place do these have in the life of one who has a God like this?
If you’re still overwhelmed by some problem in your life, some challenge before you, read this passage again and be overwhelmed by an infinite God who is bigger than anything you will ever face.
Soli Deo Gloria
No comments:
Post a Comment