God is BIG… I think we'd all agree with that.
How BIG?
Well, right now as you're reading this devotional, God is holding approximately 2 trillion galaxies in place. At this very moment, He is maintaining the precise gravitational constants that keep planets in orbit. And while doing all of that without even breaking a sweat, God is also overseeing weather systems, ocean currents, migration patterns, ecosystems, and the delicate balance of atmospheric gases that make every breath we're taking right now even possible.
So, to say it again — God is BIG. Like, really, really BIG. Most certainly, BIGGER than our finite minds can truly comprehend.
I've been thinking about the BIGNESS of God for the past month or so as we have been preparing for a CONVERSATION we’re having at GENESIS this Friday evening on how science proves the existence of God. I really hope you can join us — I believe you will be both encouraged and equipped.
I digress…
While thinking about the BIGNESS of God, I was reminded afresh this past week of just how SMALL God is.
As my son Tristan and I are finishing our six-month journey through the Bible together, one verse in 1 Peter 4 stopped me in my tracks — reminding me not only how BIG God is, but also how CLOSE He is.
See it with me in 1 Peter 4:19 —
"Trust your lives to the God who created you, for He will never fail you."
With over 8 billion people currently living on this planet, God says to you… to me…
TRUST ME WITH YOUR LIFE.
God does not say, "Hey, I hope you figure it all out."
And God does not say, "Do your best and I'll check in with you later."
NO — God says something far more personal. He invites us to trust Him with our lives… and not just a part of our lives — the whole thing.
For context, Peter, a close friend and disciple of Jesus wrote this letter to a community of believers who were suffering. These followers of Jesus were being squeezed by circumstances far outside their control. And into that chaos, they received not only an amazing invitation, but a promise attached to it. Did you catch what it was?
HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU.
Now, to the first-century audience reading those words, it would have been easy to question them. Telling a community of people suffering from circumstances well beyond their control that God will never fail them, well, that could easily sound like an empty promise.
But here's what we cannot miss or misunderstand.
When God says He will never fail you, He is not promising that life will be painless. He is not promising that the hard thing you're walking through right now will resolve quickly or neatly. Many of the believers that Peter was writing to continued to suffer. In fact, many of them of them were put to death because of their faith… including Peter.
So, how are we to understand, "He will never fail you"?
To answer that as clearly as I can, I’d simply say this…
GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU!
The promise isn't the absence of difficulty… it’s the presence of God in the difficulty.
God is not watching our lives from a distance hoping that things work out well for all of us… that’s not how God operates!
HE IS NEAR.
HE IS PRESENT.
AND HE DOES NOT FAIL!
Whatever you are facing today, and no matter what you might face tomorrow, God's invitation and promise in 1 Peter 4:19 is just as alive for you as it was for those first-century believers.
Right where you are and in the midst of the season you are in…
YOU CAN TRUST HIM WITH ALL OF YOU.
Our God is BIG… but He is NOT distant.
And please never EVER forget…
HE WILL NEVER, EVER FAIL YOU!
