the unmatchable greateness of God

I was reading in Isaiah when I was struck by just how incredible the God we serve is. God is bigger than we could ever imagine. And there is nothing and no one in all creation that can be compared to Him.

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?

Who has understood the mind of the Lord,

or instructed him 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?

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.

. . .

To whom, then, shall we compare God?

What image will you compare him to?

. . .

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been told to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

. . .

"To whom will you compare me?

Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:

who created all these?

He brings out the starry host one by one,

and calls them each by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:12-15, 18, 21-22, 25-26 (NIV)

As I been thinking about these verses and the God they describe, I have come to realize how often I try to make God smaller so that I can understand Him better. These verses in Isaiah describe a big God - a God that cannot be compared to anyone or anything - a God that is difficult to fully comprehend.

We spend much of our lives a followers of Christ trying to understand God. There is nothing wrong with this, but we do have the danger that in doing so we actually make God smaller than He is just so that we can feel like we understand Him better. But theses verses and many others describe a God that we will never be able to fully understand.

It is okay that don't completely understand God. In fact, I would say that it is a good thing that we do not completely understand Him. The mystery that comes from God being so much bigger than our minds can comprehend draws us in closer as we seek to better understand.

I think that sometimes we need to just stop and remind ourselves of the fact that we do not completely comprehend God and that it is a good thing. That way we can take comfort in what God has revealed to us about Himself and look forward to continuing to understand God better over the course of our journey through life with Him.