LONGING FOR GOD’S PERSPECTIVE, DAY ONE

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
Wednesday, March 19th

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens…
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are humans that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?
~ Psalm 8:1,3-4

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
~ Isaiah 55:8-9

In these days when life feels upsetting and uncertain, I long to know God’s perspective. Is God pleased with the way things are unfolding here on earth …with the state of our nation …with the way I am living my life? I wonder, “What does God see in all of this?” And in moments of deep anger or frustration, I even wonder, “Does God see all of this? Is God paying attention?”

These passages comfort me today, bringing to mind my own experiences of God’s majesty. When I gaze up under a starry sky, stand before the ocean, hike up a mountain, or quietly watch a sunset, I feel such an incredible sense of smallness. I experience a variety of feelings such as awe, wonder, fear, gratitude, and even a bit of anxiety from the overwhelming awareness of my insignificance. But if I remain with these feelings and emotions for a while, a sense of humble and gentle relief comes over me…

I am a tiny speck in the infinite universe.
I am one person among more than 8 billion others on this planet earth,
in this one galaxy of an estimated 200 billion or more.
I am an incremental moment in the passage of time,
in a concept (time) that may be meaningless in an infinite eternity.
I am unable to conceive the greatness of God,
and unable to understand all of God’s ways.

Yes, I am quite insignificant.

And I am not the one in charge.

Thank you, God.

I can trust God to guide my small self into greater loving service for my place in the world, while releasing the troubles I cannot fix–and my worries about them–to God. The frailty of not having ultimate power brings the freedom from ultimate responsibility. If I can keep this perspective, I can persevere in peace.

(Photo by Karen)