Saturday, May 28, 2011 - Feeling Small, Feeling Good

     One of my favorite ways to worship God is to feel small. I always feel small in the mountains or by the sea or under the night sky, but I believe Satan's outsmarted us into spending most of our lives indoors where we occasionally switch on the Discovery Channel to see God's great outdoors on our flat screens. Or, we settle for a lovely wallpaper background of the Rockies or the Bahamas to view on our computer monitors as if a photo can communicate the size, strength and majesty of God's creation. We view imported nature on theatre screens and at the IMAX. We decorate windowless offices and cubicles with nature calendars and we view the world we choose to view through our media of choice. Kind of shrinks God down to a manageable size, too, if we're not careful, don't you think?  
When we shrink our view of His Presence and Power in our lives: 
* We forget His sheer vastness and omnipresence; 

"For in Him we live and move and have our being.  

As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring.'" 

Acts 17:28

* We fail to recognize and absorb Who He is;

    God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 

Who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, 

whom no one has seen or can see.  

To Him be honor and might forever. Amen." 

1 Timothy 6:15-16

* We don't stand in awe of why He counts our hairs and knows our hearts to ask:

"O LORD, what is man that You care for him, the son of man that You think of him? 

Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow." 

Psalm 144:3-4

* We stop longing for Him by becoming content with "our" world, and even compromise His kingdom standards; 

"Come near to God and He will come near to you. 

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded ." 

James 4:8

* And, we pass along to our children and grandchild only "our" world instead of introducing them to God for Who He is and Who He can be in their lives:

"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;

His greatness no one can fathom.

One generation will commend Your works to another;

they will tell of Your mighty acts.

They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, 

and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.

They will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds."

Psalm 145:3-6

It's a beautiful day to get out of "my" world to explore the world God created. It's a great day to remind us of Who He is and what He can do. It's the right day to feel small and feel good about it. 

May we allow the Truth and Your Creation reveal Your greatness to us today, Father-Creator. Forgive us for shrink-wrapping You in portable packages. Help our spiritual eyes to zoom out to capture an inkling of Your Glory and Power today. Help us remember You have the whole world in Your Hand.

In the Name of Jesus in Whom "we live and move and have our being."