12 Who has measured the waters 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?
13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD,
or instructed him as his counselor?
14 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?
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing. Isaiah40:12-17
These few verses echo with the same relentlessness that we find in the concluding chapters of Job... Is your picture of God too small?
The Israelites looked at their _circumstances_ and concluded that God had abandoned them. They looked at their _setbacks_ and concluded that God wouldn't (or even worse, couldn't) help them. They were defined by their _limitations_. They allowed their _situation_ to become the yardstick of reality.
Now God thunders into the picture through the questions He has Isaiah ask us:
- The mighty oceans? God holds them in His hand!
- The magnificent universe? God measures it with a handspan!
- Dust uncountable, mountains immovable? God has them under control!
Can we know God's thoughts, His purposes, His plan?
No we cannot.
In the midst of our trouble and our challenges we have to learn to let God be God.
I have struggled with this - I often let my circumstances limit my view of God. But the God we serve is magnificent and mighty. He doesn't do things the way I expect or want, but in spite of His BIG-ness and majesty, He is, as we saw yesterday, a shepherd who holds us.
The first step of trust is to believe that He CAN do all things.
This is what this passage is all about!!!
