April 26, 2007

The Size of God

Isaiah 40:12-26

To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? Isaiah 40:18

— 

In C. S. Lewis's Prince Caspian, Lucy meets Aslan the Lion after a long separation. She rushes toward him, puts her arms as far round his neck as she can, and buries her face in the rich silkiness of his mane. "Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan," sobs Lucy. "At last." Then she gazes up into his large wise face. "Welcome, child," he says.

"Aslan," says Lucy, "you're bigger." "That is because you are older, little one," he answers. "... Every year you grow, you will find me bigger." I take Lewis to mean that the size of our God reflects the size of our soul or the size of our faith. As it grows, so does the size of our God. They are two sides of the same coin.

When asked if we have grown spiritually, we need to evaluate whether our view or experience of God has grown. Is our view of God greater than before?

There are adults who have grown intellectually; they're giants in their field. But about God and salvation some of them have kept a Sunday school mind. And be?cause their understanding of God is childish, they think they have outgrown God.

Isaiah prods us to look to the heavens to ask questions. If God made this and he knows the name of every star, what size God do we suppose we're dealing with?

To have confidence in our redemption, we need a mag?nificent God.

Almighty God, you are greater than we can imagine. Forgive us when we think of you as small and unimportant. Enable us to know you truly, we pray. In Jesus, Amen.

About the author — Jack Roeda

Rev. Jack Roeda is the senior pastor at Church of the Servant Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and an adjunct professor of preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary. He is married to Carol Sue Kok, and they have three children and two grandchildren. Pastor Roeda has served two previous churches: Exeter (Ont.) Christian Reformed Church and Calvary Christian Reformed Church, Holland, Michigan.

Start your day with quick daily devotions.

See God's love, power, presence, and purpose in your life every day!