Underestimating God

Psalm 145:3:  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

It seems no matter how much faith some of us have God still surprises us. 

Just how great is our Lord?  Pastor Chuck Smith used to say, “if you can get past the first verse of the Bible, the rest is easy,” and he was right.  The God who created all that exists through just a spoken word is greater than any of us will ever need.

Yet, we worry whether God can take care of some issue we’re facing whether great or small.    We worry about things from a desperately ill friend to whether we’ll be late for work.  Hopefully, some of what I say here will help with that.

First I’d like to address the fact God is infinite.  I’ve discussed infinity here before, so I’ll give the short definition.  Infinity is a number so large nothing can be added to it to make it larger.  We really can’t wrap our heads around that, but it’s true.  Think of the number of atoms in the universe.  Scientists estimate there are 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.  That’s a pretty big number, but it’s not infinity.  In fact, if the oceans were to represent an infinite number (and it can’t, of course, since it has limits) the number of atoms listed above would be smaller than a grain of sand.  That is a limited description, but we can get a sort of feel from it.

God is not just infinite in space – He is everywhere.  He’s infinite in every attribute He has.  He’s infinite in power, in knowledge, in presence.  Most of all, though, God is infinite in love.  In fact, everything He does is the result of His love for God is love (1 John 4:8).

So, as finite humans we constantly sell God short.  Being infinite in power means it was no more difficult for Him to create the entire universe than it would be to heal a friend of a cold.  God does have limits, though.  He is limited by those restrictions He has placed on Himself.  How God acts in our lives to some degree depends on our faith:

Matt. 13:58: ⁵⁸ And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

He also limits His actions to allow for our freewill.  God wants all to be saved but all are not saved because they choose to refuse God’s gift:

1 Tim. 2:1-4  First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Other than the restrictions God has laid upon Himself and His nature – He can’t sin, for instance – there is nothing He cannot do.

Why is this important?

Some of us have friends and relatives who have been struck by this virus.  We see people around us dying and worry our loved one might die as well.  We plead to God to heal them, to deliver them from this affliction.  “Certainly God would want my friend to live and glorify Him.”

Certainly, God has the power to heal our friend, but God’s ways aren’t our ways.  He doesn’t act as we wish Him to. In Isa. 55:8-9, God says this:

⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As Christians, it is always a good practice to place our issues in God’s hands and yield to His will just as Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego did with King Nebuchadnezzar.  They had refused to worship his golden image, so he threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace.  Notice their response:

Daniel 3:16-18:  ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

They had no doubt God could rescue them if it was His will. But, they recognized He might not. This should be our response in times of need as well.  Our God is greater than the trial.  He may not deliver us from the torment we’re facing in the way we want, but He will deliver us.  We mustn’t underestimate God.