Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?
– Jeremiah 32:27
Across the United States, nature has been on a rampage.
A series of earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes have wreaked havoc on many communities this summer. In August, the sky briefly turned to dusk as the moon danced before the sun and stole his glory. For a few minutes, the air chilled in the semi-darkness created by the eclipse, our reminder of just how fragile we sit in space. A slight variation in the amount of sunlight our planet receives would be catastrophic for us. Too little, and we would freeze. Too much, and we would fry.
And yet, in this whole universe, we happen to be positioned at the perfect distance from the sun to support life here. Our atmosphere happens to have the right mix of gasses for breathing and shields us from most of the harmful radiation from space. The earth happens to have the right amount of gravity to hold everything together without crushing us.
We happen to be uniquely equipped for Earth. Earth happens to be uniquely equipped to sustain us.
Our bodies happen to be so perfectly fine-tuned even a tiny change in body chemistry or function can cause illness or death. A single atom contains enough power to destroy a city. Yet we are comprised of many atoms united to form tissue and organs and systems working together in harmony. The body is even programed to strive to maintain a certain state of well-being known as homeostasis.
Scientists have spent their entire careers studying one small function of the universe, and still understand so little of it. The intricacies of our world take great minds and complicated math to explain, yet the entire collective knowledge of all recorded history can’t plumb the depths of creation. The whole of our intellect combined can’t answer our most basic questions:
How did we get here? Why are we here?
We have lived so long in the mystery, we no longer wonder at the design.
We dwell without gratitude in the providence of a benevolent Designer. We breathe in the perfectly mixed air into our exquisite lungs without a single breath of thanks.
Our world displays the power and intelligence, beauty and sensitivity, ferocity and tenderness of a great being. If we have learned anything, we should have learned He is so far above us. We demean Him when we question His ability and desire to care for us.
God holds the universe together, and we can’t trust Him with our paychecks, our homes, our families, or our health. At the first signs of turmoil in our lives, our first question is not to ask how we can glorify Him in our trials, but to demand the reason He is being so cruel to us.
Why do we do this? Have we have fashioned a god in our own image, one who is capricious, petty, and vain instead of using our circumstances to grow in faith and get to know Him better? Who is this God we serve?
Isn’t it time we found out?
Ah Lord GOD!
Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power
and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.
– Jeremiah 32:17
