 “Who has measured the water’s in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:12-14)
God is far more mighty, powerful, and vast than many of us realize. Oftentimes we put Him in a box; we make Him small. We wall Him in with the drywall of our small thinking and small believing, then expect Him not to seep through our walls. God cannot be contained. There is no box you can put Him in that He will remain in. All of the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and streams He measured in the hollow of his hand. It doesn’t say “hands” it says “hand.” Cup your hand. How much water can you hold in that one hand? Not much. God, in just one of His hands, held all the water on all the earth. Now look at the breadth, or width of your hand. God marked off the heavens with the breadth of His hand. “Heavens” refers to all of creation and the universe. (Biblestudytools.com) With just the width of His hand He measured it all. He held all the dust in all the earth in a basket. Even with the biggest basket you have ever seen, you couldn’t hold but a fraction of the earth’s dust. And it's dust; how exactly do you hold dust in anything? He weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance. The largest industrial scales we know of could not weigh even one mountain. And the very largest of balances could not weigh even a small pair of hills. Are you beginning to see the vastness of God? Are you coming to grasp how big He is, how incredible His power is? Are you beginning to comprehend how small you may have made Him in your life, in your prayers, in your circumstances?? When hardship comes, when you lose your job, when your loved one dies, when they leave, when the accident happens, when the darkness won’t relent, when sickness overcomes, when the sadness becomes your cloak, when the fear is overwhelming…it’s so easy to make God small, and the problem becomes our god; it takes our attention, it commands our heart, it dwarfs God in our minds leaving us hopeless and broken. We forget that God is Almighty. We forget that He made the heavens and the earth. We forget that He parted the Red Sea. We forget that He set all the stars in their places. We forget that He has numbered all the hairs of our head. We forget that He gives us breath. We forget that He is our shield, our refuge, our defender, our light, our salvation. Let me remind you today of how big your God is: “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:5 NIV) “For God is so wise and so mighty.” (Job 9:4 NLT) “These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power.” (Job 26:14 NLT) “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV) “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.” (Psalm 62:11 ESV) “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:3 ESV) “He is wise in heart and mighty in strength—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?” (Job 9:4 ESV) “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14a ESV) “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV) “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” (Psalm 95:3) “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens." (Jeremiah 10:12 ESV) So, what are you facing today? Are you facing a mountain of bills you can’t pay? Are you facing a loss that has left you numb, broken, and alone? Are you facing an illness that has consumed your life? Are you facing decisions with no answers in sight? Are you facing the dark tunnel of depression? Are you facing overwhelming anxiety at all of the uncertainty life brings? May I suggest that you turn your face upward, above your current problem, to behold the face of the one who made you, who knows you by your name, who knew you before you were ever born, and who is mighty to save. He is big. Big enough to stop the mouths of lions. Big enough to part a raging sea. Big enough to bring dry bones to life. Big enough to handle what life brings. Big enough to make the heavens. Big enough to make the earth. Big enough to come and die for you, To show you just how much you’re worth. Big enough to quiet turbulent storms. Big enough to stop the hand of death. Big enough to overcome our greatest trial Big enough to give all life its breath. You may think He does not see you. You make think you are all alone. But child, He has never left you And He is big enough to bring you home…. Written by Anne Marie Hawke August 2020 To subscribe to my blog or to find out more about my writing, please visit my website at hawkewriter.com
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 “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)
“So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about—He is looking for us.” Simon Tugwell “God does not need the Creation in order to have something to love because within Himself love happens.” Frederick Buechner The heart of God is one of love, unfathomable love, and intimacy, epic intimacy. And because it is such, it is a love that lays itself down, it is a heart that gives elaborate freedom, knowing when true freedom is given there is the chance for rejection. God wants our hearts, but He will not take them by power or by knowledge because power and knowledge don’t qualify for heart. He wants us to choose Him, not because He demands it, or explains that His love is what is best for us, but because we see His heart of love towards us and respond in kind. Years ago when I came upon the verse above in John 17:26 I felt something stir within my heart as I read it then, and I still do now. It was my deep longing for that kind of intimacy, for that kind of love. The love I had known was a selfish love, the kind of love that only loves you so long as you are useful. I spent most of my young life trying to get someone to love me: my parents, my siblings, my husband, my children, my friends. But I was broken, I couldn't love properly, and when I tried I just couldn’t do enough, be enough, give enough to make anyone stay and love me. Time and time again I was rejected. So when this verse found my eyes and then my heart it was as if my soul whispered, “Yes, I want that.” For a long time I ran from His heart, I ran from the intimacy He offered because it was so foreign to what I had known, and what I had known had grown very comfortable. Real love and intimacy are things that cause trepidation in a heart like mine. I so wanted to believe, to feel, to know what it was like to truly be loved and accepted, yet I didn’t think I was worthy of it…so the thing I wanted most I kept pushing away, like a wounded animal who so needs compassion and care but lashes out in fear and pain when they are offered. But God kept pursuing me, He kept wooing me when I didn’t deserve it, when I messed up, when I hurt others, when I hurt myself, He just kept coming after my heart. He just kept accepting me. He just kept loving me. He just kept finding me in the dark alleys of my wounded soul and bringing me back home to His heart and to His arms. And one day I just began to let Him in, I began to open my heart, I began to trust that He was good and could be trusted. And He came in like a flood. I have never known this kind of love; a love that stays, a love that heals, a love that surrounds, a love that penetrates the deepest parts of my heart with the sure blade of intimacy. I am known. I am loved. I won’t ever be alone. I won’t ever be rejected. I am always welcome. I can tell Him anything. I can be wholly me. I am enough. I’m not trying to get someone to love me anymore. He loves me…His heart is ever toward me…He won’t ever leave me… “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine…” (Song of Solomon 6:3) I encourage you: Stop running. Stop hiding. Let Him in. The love you want, the intimacy you crave begins and ends in Him. The Waterfall I came upon a waterfall rushing off the cliffs I felt its spray brush against my skin I sat upon the grassy edge of torrential splendor Slipped my feet into the space within I stood, my senses reeling from its might I took a step toward the raging flow I felt a sense of deep fear and wonder pulling What could I lose if I trust and let go? The span of all my life came before me I stopped to get a clearer view Always in the shallows somehow avoiding The rush of water which now ensued I heard a voice cascading from the heights I leaned in, deciphering what it said “How long will you stand there in trepidation?” “How long will you live as though dead?” “Step into the powerful flow of my love.” “Step under the weight of my heart.” “Stop trying to secure love from empty vessels Who are ever ending before they start.” My heart received the message given I plunged myself beneath the mighty flow The crashing water threatened to crush me “Be still child, trust my heart, and let go.” The weight of the water poured over me Lifting off all my filth and shame I felt love so deep and overwhelming I knew I would never be the same…. My prayer for you taken from Ephesians 3:14-21, “For this cause”---my want that they may know You, that they might come to ‘see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,’ (Psalm 27:13) that they might lay down their burdens, their heartache, their pain, confusion, and the uncertainty of this world… “I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Written by Anne Marie Hawke August 2020 To subscribe to my blog or to find out more about my writing please visit my website at hawkewriter.com |
qUIET IN CHAOSQuiet in Chaos is a blog about nothing, everything, and all things inbetween…it’s a space, an ellipsis, a deep pause. Life can be chaotic, and often needs more moments of quiet…So join me as I share and give through the written word, the place I find my Quiet in Chaos… Archives
February 2022
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