A God who is able

My thoughts today demand that I quote part of an article written by someone else. The full intent of this article is not where I want to end up, so I will only quote portions of the article that focus on the universe itself. If you wish to read the entire article you can read it here. Here's the article and then a few thoughts,

The Known Universe

"On a clear night, depending on your location and ability to scan freely from horizon to horizon in all directions, the average person is able to view approximately 3,000 stars with the naked eye...

On July 22, 2003, CNN News reported that astronomers announced there are 70 sextillion stars in the visible universe. A sextillion is a 1 followed by 21 zeroes.

That's 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 known stars in the universe. That's more than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the entire Earth.

This is not the total number of stars in the universe -- it's the number within the range of present day telescopes. The true number could be a zillion times higher. (Did you see that? We can’t see all the stars, there’s more! –Mike)

There are nearly 7 billion people on this planet; that's 10 trillion known stars for every human being on Earth.

For every single person, there are 10,000,000,000,000 known stars in the universe.

Each star could have multiple planets within their system, just as we have multiple planets in our own solar system. Numerous planets have already been discovered in the closer regions of space..."

The amazing thing to me is the vastness of the universe we can see. Even more amazing is that there is more we simply can't see.

Here are God's words about this universe, vast beyond our imaginations. His words about creation fascinate me, here they are,
^{...
Genesis 1:14} And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

One of the problems I see in the lives of Christians is the smallness of their God. They face a problem, a struggle and their faith shakes, they doubt God, they shutter with fear. This can only happen in the life of someone who doesn't know God...doesn't know how big he really is. In the verses that describe creation he says this about the universe that is beyond our imagination, "He also made the stars."

Those five words always (and I mean always) amaze me. When I realize there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the seashore it strikes me that, to be honest, God was just showing off when he made the universe. He wanted every man to be able to look up at the night sky and say, with awe, "the God who made that is beyond anything I can imagine!" If God is able to make more stars than grains of sand and do it for our benefit, AND almost as an afterthought, don't you think he can take care of you?

Here’s how big this really is- recently I was on my way to Kenya and part of the trip took us from Amsterdam to Nairobi. As I look out the airplane window I watched as we left the Mediterranean Ocean and started across North Africa. Within moments we were over desert sands and for more than three hours all you could see was sand! Flying at over 500 mph it took us more than three hours to cross the Sahara desert. There are more stars than all the sand in that desert AND on every beach on every continent. That’s a lot of stars!

Now, let’s apply all of this- There are only a few reasons I struggle in my life and here they are, fear, focus, faith.

I fear when my God is too small, then, 1. My problems grab my focus. When my problems seem to be bigger than God's ability to fix them, 2. fear follows. And, 3. My faith stutters when both fear and focus have me worried about the events and problems of the moment. It’s as if fear and a focus on my problems makes God too small and unable to help me. When these three happen in my life it’s clear that my view of God is too small for my life on planet earth.

If God, as an afterthought and for our benefit, could make the universe....a universe bigger than we can imagine, bigger than we can see....couldn't he take care of me? Couldn’t he take care of you? When fear, loss of focus and a staggering faith is the problem look up....count a few stars and thank God that he made it all to show you he's big enough to take care of you and any problem you face.

Here’s what the writers of scripture say,

^{Psalm 124:8} Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth. (Implication? If God can make all of that can’t he take care of you?)

^{Jeremiah 33:3} ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

When your fears overwhelm you look up. Count the stars if you can. God made all of them. He can help you. He’s big enough and he’s able, and did you know he’s willing? Look up….he’s a BIG God!