At a community social event awards were being given and a reception was to follow. From my seat on the far side of the auditorium, I could see a glimpse of the cake through the cracks in the moveable room partitions. It was sitting on a table in the assembly room, many yards away.
Obviously it was a big cake, because I could tell what it was from that great of a distance. But it didn’t look like a seriously very large cake. I made a mental note that a lot of people were going to go home—cake-less.
After the ceremony, I got in line to get my slice of cake. I hoped they had another cake hiding somewhere in the back because the dessert I’d seen wasn’t going to feed half the people, much less all the guests. Then, as I rounded the corner of the partition into the area where the cake was, I discovered the cake was—-HUGE.
It stood nearly as tall as my head and was so big around I couldn’t reach around it, not even if I held hands with a couple of friends! It was not sitting on a table, as I’d originally thought, but rather on a special platform that had been constructed to look like a table.
When in the auditorium, I’d viewed the cake from a great distance and it had looked small. When I stood closer to the confection, its actual size was revealed. Sometimes, it seems like God is small —because where we’re standing makes God look small.
The Children of Israel had a name for God that shows how BIG He is, Yahweh (Jehovah). The Hebrew meaning of the word is, “He who is at one with the limitless, unbounded universe because He has created it.” Wow, that is quite—a description of our Lord.
The word, name, Yhwh, (Tetragrammaton) with this particular BIG meaning, is in the Bible only four times. (Exodus 6:3, Psalms 83:18, Isaiah 12:2 and Isaiah 26:4) The Jewish people held that BIG name for God in such respect that some claim that it was spoken just once a year and then only when they were in the temple at Jerusalem.
They believe that “BIG God name” is so Holy that they won’t even write it down; using only symbols to represent it. They would not even say that word in prayer because it was so Holy! God, Himself, in all of His magnificence and glory, was defined by that one name. Yet, that powerful, unwrite-able, unspoken—name, was, in their eyes, not adequate to describe the greatness of God.
Sometimes, because we’re so busy with work, family, life, even church, we stand at a distance and don’t see how BIG God really is. Situations and circumstances that I have no control of seem so huge because I have placed “that” between God and me. According to scripture, God is so BIG that when he approaches, the mountains tremble (Nahum 1:5) He created the universe and calls the stars by name. (Isaiah 40:26)
My God is so magnificent that He wraps Himself in light, as if the light was a garment to be worn. The clouds are his chariot and He rides on the wings of the wind. (Psalms 104:1-3) As I move in closer to my Lord, the problem doesn’t change, but my point of view does. How BIG do I allow God to be in my life? It’s up to me. How close do I want to get?.
Jeremiah 10:6 No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.
Prayer: My Lord, you are very great, you created the universe and call the stars by name. Help me to focus on your power and strength when I’m afraid. Help me to accept your sovereignty over every circumstance and simply —trust you. Thank you for your faithfulness. Amen.
Scriptural References
Exodus 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them.
Psalms 83:18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth
Isaiah 12:2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense he has become my salvation
Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away.The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.(
Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.
Psalms 104:1-3 Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.