#3080 - Reflections of a Great Big God

I just returned from a Swiss Hike Retreat over Labor Day weekend in Kandersteg Switzerland. It was awesome! God did a lot of things and showed me a lot. We talked about loving the Lord with all our heart this past weekend. The photo above captures what I learned this weekend about God’s love and how big He really is. This is only one of those things. This is a photograph that I took of Larry Hudson while he rested on a very difficult hike on the Fruendenhutte Trail that overlooks Lake Oeschinensee.

Larry Hudson is a pretty big guy. He stands about 6’2”-6’3” and weighs more than I do. But no matter how big Larry gets he is not bigger than God. Larry is an awesome man of God who loves the Lord with all of his heart. He has a strong desire to serve the Lord with all his heart. This is not a knock against Larry at all. I love him very much and have a lot of respect for him. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Larry is a big guy when you look at him. He is very strong, well-built, and solid as a rock. But when you look at the photo you see Larry sitting near the bottom right of the picture near a rock overlooking the lake. He is pretty small in the photo. The landscape around him is large, impressive, and beautiful. It really shows who God is to me and hopefully to you as well.

What is the point to all of this? Simply that no matter how big we are, or how big our problems are, how hard the trials may be, God is still big enough to take care of us and the situations that life brings our way. Our problems are very small when compared to the greatness of God. See God had a situation arise when he created the world. What was it? There wasn't a world yet. He had to speak it into creation. He had to decide what to create and on what day. When He finished each day He said it was good. On the 7th day God rested (Genesis Chapter 1).

I am not trying to start a big theological debate about creation and the number of days it took and all the other things that go along with this. If God is able to create this world out of nothing, then I think he is more than capable of taking care of our situations, needs, and trials in our lives. He is a Great Big God! He is bigger than our situations! He can handle our problems. We just have to be willing to sit down and rest and let him carry the load for us. His yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30)!

Another thing is that Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was and He responded to “Love the Lord with all your heart, all of your mind and all your soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).” This wasn't just a line He gave out, or a famous quote; it was something He lived. You see God loved us so much that He created this world with all of His heart, all of His mind, and all of His soul. That is how much God loves us!

That is the kind of love that we need to imitate! Not the kind of love that thinks of other people for selfish gain but the kind of love that has no boundaries, no limitations, etc. We have to be willing to love people even though it seems like there is nothing there that you can love. Maybe it is time for us to create something out of nothing. Look at the people in your lives. Do you see something in them that you can love? If not, create something out of nothing. Find out something about the people around you and decide to use that as a way to love them. God did it for you!