How Big and How Little is God
Oh, the awesomeness of our Father God Who is all about splendor and majesty. He has a big booming voice and when we tune in to His frequency, we’ll easily recognize it as He points us in the ways we should go. He confounds us with audacious miracles that no man could contrive. Beyond compare are His extraordinary works of creation – the powerful, rolling waves of the ocean and the majestic mountains and the rolling thunder and flashes of lightning that pierce the skies. As remarkable and spectacular God is on every level, I have come to know Him in the intimacy of His sweet, gentle, almost imperceptible still small voice. If it’s that small, then you ask, “How do you know it’s God”?
I answer that question with one of those sweet stories that speak to me in that way. I sensed it yesterday when I spoke with my sis-in-love in Tulsa. It was catch-up time. Seems Mom, at age 98, is slowing down more every day in her memory, her patience and her overall cognitive abilities. Karen is her dutiful and loving 24/7 caregiver and, figuratively speaking, I’m thankful that I can be a shoulder she can lay her head on from time to time. She really needs respite and I like to think that my little check-ins with her provide her with some. I’m thankful she has an amazing husband who is there as her source of help and encouragement.
She told me of a recent time when mom was out-of-sorts and so was Karen, but then all of a sudden Karen’s daughter who is an APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse) showed up in the nick of time for both of them. She was Jesus in the flesh soothing and healing both their spirits. That is one of those “still small voice moments” I was speaking about.
Since I moved to Austin, I haven’t missed any of my grandson’s baseball games. Those games have been my joy and delight. So, grandmother to grandmother, I asked Karen about Maddie, her granddaughter, who attends the University of Tulsa on a full ride academic and soccer scholarship. She was named 2020s Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year, and was a 2019 United Soccer Coaches All-American selection. Unfortunately, Karen hasn’t been able to attend Maddie’s games for some time now because of mom’s needed attention 24/7. But, once again in His still-small-voice way, God shows up and intervenes like a sweet kiss from heaven. ESPN plays the University of Tulsa’s games and Karen and Mom attend them all from the convenience of home. And easy-to-spot is Maddie, who was given permission to always wear a red headband or ribbon for her Gamma and Granny to recognize her.
God so often speaks in whispers, in the quiet undertone of our hearts. It’s easy to discount. It’s easy to push it aside or question its validity. We forget the smallness of things, each gentle nudging in our hearts that sways us this way or that. And I think it’s because sometimes we forget about the smallness of Him. We forget about the beginning — the little infant, the tiny manger, and the great big promise it all fulfilled.
How big is God? How deep and wide His vast domain? To try to tell these lips can only start. He’s big enough to rule His mighty universe, yet small enough to live within my heart. God often doesn’t speak to us in wild, thunderous roars. Sometimes His voice is small, but it is always mighty. Always.