[This post is in a weekly devotional series called Everything New. Sign up here if you’re interested.]
Imagine our confusion if we thought that God is glorious (sometimes) or is Spirit (once in a while) or knows us (at least 75% of us, plus or minus 5%). No, whatever God is, he is consistently. God “does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). Everything else in life changes. God will one day roll up the universe like a robe, “But you [God] remain the same, and your years will never end” (Hebrews 1:12).
What a parent hopes to be–consistent, even-handed, fair, reliable, steady–God is. He always is. He is the only father who is never arbitrary, never capricious, never moody. What was true about God 4,000 years ago when he called Abram is still true of him today. And so what is true about him today will be true for your great-grandchildren and for all eternity.
God is great. This is the song sung by the universe. It is the proper interpretation of every heartbeat, every breath, and every step of our lives.
This is what Mary, the mother of Jesus, meant when she said “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46). The news of God’s act of supreme greatness, bringing a rescuer into the world, inspired her to praise and adoration. But Mary “magnified” the Lord, not in the sense that she made him bigger, but because her soul was enlarged by the greatness she was just beginning to comprehend.
No telescope ever made a celestial body larger, but by gaining a larger vision, a magnified vision, the beholder is changed by the greatness beheld.
Greatness is our best hope, when we feel like our lives are just so many pieces, to know that there is a way to pull it all together. We are pulled together and held together by the greater purpose of a greater being. So when we wonder where we fit in, or how we can go on after losing somebody important, or whether we can do any good in our lives, the answer comes from the throne of the God of greatness. His invisible hand moves us more powerfully and carefully than any other influence in our lives. He is not puzzled by the puzzling pieces of life.
PRAY THIS
God, enlarge me. I don’t ask you to make me bigger or more important, but I know that if I get a fuller experience of your greatness, that my heart and my mind will be greater for it. But most of all, help me to be exuberant in setting a course of life to know your greatness, and to speak of your greatness whenever I have the opportunity.
Excerpt from Putting the Pieces Back Together: How Real Life and Real Faith Connect. Click for more.
Everyday I wake up with the joy that God is always, always loving, forgiving, always a teacher, counsellor and Father. My life begins and ends knowing although I may not always remember to give an attitude of gratitude for my day, he is always there. I am always in awe, when I take time to stop and be still I know that he is God!!
Darlene
Dear Father Holy Father,
thank you for your Love, you love even me and for teaching me as my Father..help me Lord to take good care of my portion until you return..help me to always always listen to you and obey..Thank you for being in control and for being there to turn to when we are happy or sad or in trouble..
Please help me take in adult food,, to step out and live the real life,, the life you designed for me to do…I love you,, I fear you I am nothing without you…Here I am Father..In Jesus name I pray Amen
Thank you for doing what you do Dr. Lawrenz I am a new creation learning to grow into a Christian.. I want to put the effort into action.. I feel as if I am the third stewart, Matthew 25:-29 and am not so good..I must not let go and hang on to the truth and no matter how I feel I must know the word of God…I am feeling lost today and am leaning on my faith that God really loves me ..I feel useless and afraid I have not obeyed my Father I can’t hear Him He is to far away…I want to be close and build a relationship,,, So I pray ths prayer in different ways all the time…
Thank you Dr. Lawrenz for listening to God and obeying Him….You are a blessing to me from God..We all work together!! Foe slow pokes like me I am so happy that God does not ever change…
Linda, what a sweet, tender heart you have. Bless you as you continue in the Lord. He loves you so much, and He will always be by your side to help and guide you into the woman He created you to be. Remember Jeremiah 29:11-13…tuck it into your heart and never forget it. He loves you!
Thank you for a great lesson. As I grow older in my faith in God, I hopefully am also growing wiser as to His presence, greatness, and power. That such a One would love me is beyond my imagination.
As I study Biology, Geology, hike the mountains and deserts, observe the weather and nature all around me everyday, I know God is the creator of it all.
Thanks for the comments, Linda, and thanks for sharing your prayer. Surely God is honored when, in our better moments, we have that kind of heart attitude.
Thanks Mel for always enlightening our minds on how great, wonderful, faithful, merciful, and gracious our father is.
Mel, I would like know how I can order your book, “Putting the Pieces Back Together: How Real Life and Real Faith Connect”, in Canada? I was trying to order it but it seems it’s only for US address.
God is ALWAYS the same. Knowing that I know that He NEVER changes makes Him TOTALLY and FOREVER trustworthy. Nothing in this world will ever compare to this Truth. What peace that brings to my soul!! Thank you Lord God for being the PERFECT Father.