from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Read Isaiah 45:7, 9-12

How often have you heard God accused of injustice, cruelty, or indifference? How often has He been blamed for the actions of us sinful people?

How often have our shallow, selfish expectations caused us to complain about His treatment of us or mistrust His love? How often have we acted as if He were unreal, or at least unresponsive to our needs? Secretly we have sometimes doubted whether there was anyone there listening at all.

“Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
‘What are you making?’…
Woe to him who says to his father,
‘What have you begotten?’…
Do you question me about my children,
or give me orders about the work of my hands?” (Isaiah 45:9, 11, NIV)

How vital it is that we get a renewed vision of the transcendence of God. We get so saturated with our small, self-centered thinking that we forget how tiny and brief and inherently, inescapably ignorant we are.

All being, all existence flows from Him. This unimaginably vast universe, this reality, seen and unseen, is but the smallest expression of all He is. All that is, is His. All that is, is from Him, through Him, and to Him. He is the Source and Goal of life, of history…of creation itself.

Our ignorance is understandable. Our misunderstanding is understandable. Our flawed thinking is excusable. We need not repent of our weakness and smallness. They are part of who we are.

But we should repent of our mistrust of Him. Yes, it is difficult for us sight-oriented creatures to put complete faith in an unseen God. But He repeatedly, faithfully gives us every reason to trust Him. He patiently teaches us and reminds us, even as we fail to grasp the wonderful things He is doing right before our eyes.

Make it your goal and deep desire to trust and reverence and love your Father more simply, constantly, and completely, day by day.