god is in the details

i am signed up for a monthly  e-newsletter from a company called marriage missions. it’s been quite amazing to me over the past year how pertinent these emails are to me when i receive them. every single time, it never fails, i am dealing with, reading or praying about the exact topic in their email. recently i have been reading through genesis and the creation story; thinking about just how big GOD is and how small i am. how he took the time to create me, out of nothing, and put me here on this earth. it’s baffling and quite humbling. he allows me to go through hard times and to struggle because he knows that i will be able to support, encourage, and understand someone else’s pain in the future. kinda the whole “his pain, my gain” idea. he uses us, every single fiber of our being for his glory! me… little me. wow!

i was pleasantly surprised, yet again to receive their email… here is an excerpt from their most recent email called “how big is your GOD?”

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How big is your God? Do you recognize Him as the “Creator of heaven and earth” — the One who with His “own hands stretched out the heavens”, “marshaled their starry hosts”, “established the sun and the moon”, “laid the earth’s foundation”, “set all the boundaries of the earth” making “both summer and winter”, “every living creature” and “created mankind upon it”? How big is your God — Does He know and see you?

Pastor/Evangelist Louie Giglio answers that question this way: “He’s big enough to breathe out stars, yet intricate enough to fashion together the trillions of cells that make up every facet of who you are. The God who spoke the universe into existence made you, too, and knows everything about you. From the smallest molecule to the situation you find yourself in right now. He’s aware of your circumstances and is intimately acquainted with everything you do. He cares about you and promises to carry you through.”

He goes on to say, “He will hold onto you and hold you together, giving strength to those who hope in His unfailing love. He is the everlasting God.” Do you believe that? How big… how great is the God you perceive Him to be when it comes to helping you?

It’s a question I can confess that I personally struggled with for many years. I wondered whether God really did create the Heavens, the Earth and every living creature including human beings, instead of it all originally bursting forth and evolving somehow as many scientists propose. I struggled to believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that He is “the only way” to having a personal relationship with God. I questioned whether the truth of the Bible (because of so many arguments I’ve heard to the contrary). But time and again, God has revealed Himself to me in so many personal ways, that even though all of this still tries to eat away at my faith, I know that I know that I know, Who He is, and that my faith in Him is not misplaced.

Yet even though I eventually believed God to be the Creator of the Universe and every living creature, including me — I still struggled with knowing Him as my Heavenly Father — One who truly saw and cared about my life and marriage.

I saw God answering the prayers of others but didn’t see Him answering mine to the same degree. I would find myself feeling that He is a great God and one that answers prayer –but not mine. What has made it especially difficult has been having adult prodigal sons who left their faith in the exclusivity of Christ being the only way to relationship with God– with one son now claiming to be an atheist. It has been years and years of praying, struggling to keep believing, and continually longing for their Christian fellowship that especially chinks away at my faith.

Other circumstances I’ve prayed for have also shaken their fist at my faith as I’ve received either “no” answers or silence. But as I’ve sought Truth, eventually I remember that God’s ways are not my ways. He is God and I am not. I cannot begin to know all He does. I keep forgetting that. Yet through it all, God is patient and reminds me that I am not responsible for the choices of others, including my sons, to accept or reject Him. I am solely responsible for the choices I make. I find I can and must trust His heart and love for me and everyone else. It’s difficult at times, but it’s also sweet when God has comforts in ways that He knows I understand.

I share this with you because I want you to know that you are not alone in your “doubtstorms.” We all have vulnerabilities and go through times of temptation and struggle. Steve and mine are just different than yours. But none of us escapes “trials” and “tribulations” as we live in this fallen world. Don’t allow the enemy of our faith to fool you otherwise (see: James 1:2-5; John 16:33; Matthew 5:43-45; and 1 Corinthians 7:28). “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). How can we exercise faith if we see and understand everything?

And how could we relate to others who are suffering if we don’t suffer? For this reason, “we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” Beyond your hurts of today, there may be someone God will point your way so you can help and comfort them with compassionate understanding.

Through all and despite all, we can be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (see Romans 8:37-39). That is why we are continuing with this point this week. As God’s children we should not underestimate who we are to God and what He can do in and through us. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, and love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Once we comprehend who we are in Christ and Whose we are as children of God, we can approach the throne of God with boldness (see: Hebrews 4:14-16), knowing that He hears our prayers and is a “rewarder” of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

It’s important for us to recognize how big and great our God is — yet embrace that He knows us in personal ways. He knit us together and knows everything about us. Our problems do not escape His sight. Once we really grasp this, we will look beyond our immediate circumstances with hope towards what God will do in and through us — not walking around or conducting ourselves as if we are defeated.

We pray this will help you in your Christian walk and your marriage to confidently trust God for all things.

Cindy and Steve Wright

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