Making Much

I spend a great deal of my time doing laundry.  I mean a lot.  A lot, a lot.  If I did five loads a day I might have a prayer of staying on top of it. 

I am a big fan of the clothesline because it shortens the task and saves money.  Ok, truth be told, my husband is a big fan on the money part.  It allows me to be outside.   I can hang three loads at a time and they dry fast.  And smell so good.  Unless they are spreading manure in the field next to us.

The other day I was thinking I should not put so many loads up.  It was nearing the end of the day.  The sun was setting and it was getting cooler.  I’m not that smart and am no scientist but in my little brain I was thinking there wouldn’t be enough sun to go around.

Which is, of course, completely stupid. I’m looking at it from the wrong point of view. The sun is way bigger than my little clothesline. It has all the power it needs to dry.  It will not work better if I hang things out one garment at a time. 

The sun is a giant, self-sustaining ball of fire that heats the whole earth.  It is lots of miles away (again I’m not good with science).  It’s crazy to judge the ability of the sun to dry clothes by the size and scope of my little clothesline.

How much do I do that with God?  I make him small.  I look at things from my limited little point of view.  I wonder how He can take care of problems or where He is when those terrible things happen and reduce Him down to clothes line size.

When in reality He is outside of time.  He is the creator and sustainer of life.  How can I accomplish my desire to make much of God when I am viewing Him from my limited human mind.

I was just reading these verses for Bible study.

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? 

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 

Who had understood the Spirit of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor?

Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? 

Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?”

Isaiah 40:12-14

God is self-sustaining.  He is all-knowing, all-powerful.  He does not need me this lowly puny little human to wonder if He’s got it under control.

While Job is suffering the book goes on and on with Job and his friends pontificating on why all these terrible things happened.  God eventually thunders back smashing all their great human wisdom to pieces.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell me if you understand.  Who marked off it’s dimensions?  Surely you know!”  Job 38:4-5

“Have you ever entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?  What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?”  Job 38:22-24

The next four chapters rail on like that.  It’s obvious that we are foolish when we think we know better than God.  But I still try.  I still think it might help to only hang one shirt at a time to help him out.  Or question His ability to be in control of a situation that seems out of control to me.

So I need to make much of God.  How do I do that?  By allowing His glory to produce humility in us.  I want to make much of Him, not myself, not my circumstances.

My desire is to glorify Him in my life.  I can do that by praising Him for who He is.  The master of the universe.  The creator of the world.  The Savior of my soul.

When we make much of ourselves, we try to be our own god.  That is just crazy.  Surely there are things we do not know or understand.

Job seemed to get it after a four chapter smack-down.  He responds by saying:

“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.  You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’  Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” 

Job 42:2-4

 

See I told you I spend way too much time doing laundry.