By: Rex Stump
Wauseon, Ohio
Sometimes my problems feel bigger than I can handle. Sometimes the difficulties of this world feel increasingly more than I can fathom. Overwhelmed and feeling hopeless?
Isaiah 40:12 reminds me that God is bigger than all the problems in this world combined! “Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?”
How much water can you hold cupped in your hand? Measure it. Not much, right? Now think about this: the Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean on Earth.
It contains the deepest point on the ocean floor, reaching a depth of more than 35,760 feet below sea level. Mount Everest is Earth’s highest mountain above sea level, at 29,032 feet.
Drop Mount Everest into the Pacific, and you won’t find it! Now take the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and Black Seas, the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, and all the rest of the bodies of water! God holds them all in His hand!
That same hand takes your hand and calms us. Isaiah 41:13, “For I hold you by your right hand – I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.”
“…Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?” (Vs.12)
Growing up, I would do chores on the farm that included carrying large buckets of grain to feed the animals. Sometimes we had to carry dirt and rocks from the fields.
How much dirt can you put in a five-gallon bucket and carry without straining, and carry it a good distance? Could you do it for long time? It wouldn’t be long before you would set the bucket down and rest! But God doesn’t get tired or lose strength! As a matter of fact, He carries more!
Years ago, I hiked in the Death Valley National Park. There were miles upon miles of sand and dirt. If I were to take all that sand and load it into a massive bucket, could I carry it? No way!
But, if I took that same bucket full of sand, and went from Maine to Florida, and loaded all that sand into that same massive bucket, God could carry it and never grow weary!
We no longer have a working scale in our house, probably a good thing. But imagine taking El Capitan in Yosemite and placing it on the scales to weigh. Add surrounding peaks like half-dome, Sentinel, and the nearby mountain range. Add Mount Everest. Add the Himalayas, the greatest mountain chain that stretches across South Asia, containing more than 100 mountains close to the size of Mount Everest.
Approximately 1,550 miles across five countries: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Bhutan. As you stack these and more on a scale, it’s like a feather to God. God knows the exact weight of all these peaks combined down to the pound.
Our mighty, powerful, all-knowing God is bigger than we know. And yet, He is loving enough to take us by the hand and remind us to trust Him. Take a deep breath, pray, trust God, He is bigger than we know!
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. Isaiah 26:3-4
“Stay strong, stay focused…stay faithful!”
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.