How Big Is Enough?
By Hal Lindsey
Even Christians fret and worry. Joy can seem remote and fear ever-present. Peace can feel like a thing of the past. When we experience these things, we wonder why.
For the most part, it happens when we take over God’s role in our lives. We make ourselves the final ruler, chief protector, and ultimate provider. Yes, God gives us decisions to make. He instructs us to protect our loved ones to the extent we can. And He implores us to work to provide for our needs and theirs. But we should never take on God’s role of Final Ruler, Chief Protector, and Ultimate Provider.
Fear and worry can rule us to whatever extent that we take these jobs from God. We fret because we are inadequate to His tasks. We struggle to feel joy because when everything is up to us, we know that things can fall apart at any moment. The greatest example of people taking over a job only God can do is when people think they can be good enough to save themselves from sin.
Romans 8:5 (NASB) says, “Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
The process of walking according to the flesh usually happens gradually. It can be subtle, and full of small, hardly noticeable steps. We still pray, read the Bible, and go to church, but over time we take onto ourselves things that belong to God.
Let me give an example most of us can relate to. Your children and/or grandchildren plan a trip by air. They will fly in bad weather, and you feel concerned for their safety. What starts as a prayer for their protection can sometimes cease being a prayer at all. It can turn into pure worry. You feel helpless. You think somehow that if you were there, everything would be okay. But your presence would not keep the plane in the air. God’s presence is the key. And He is with them.
Some people trust God’s ability, but not His wisdom. Experience tells them that He sometimes allows things to happen that they would not allow if they were Almighty. When things happen that they think are not best, they begin to trust their wisdom over His.
Is that you? Let me ask you this. How big and how wise and how good must God be in order to earn your trust? Revelation 19:6 (KJV) calls God “omnipotent.” That’s means He’s all powerful. Romans 11:33 speaks of His unlimited wisdom. “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” Psalm 34:8 speaks to His goodness. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
How strong, how wise, and how loving does He have to be to earn your trust? He has all power, so you can trust His ability. There are no limits to His wisdom, so you can trust His decisions. And because He is good and He loves you, His choices and power will work in your best interest. In other words, He’s big enough, knowledgeable enough, and good enough for you to give Him your complete trust.
1 Peter 5:7 says to cast “all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.”
