“It is he [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers.” (Isaiah 40:22a
When was the last time you were outside playing and you spotted a grasshopper or a cricket? Grasshoppers are a little bigger than crickets, but they are still so small that we can actually pick them up and hold them right in the palms of our hands.
Did you know that the Bible compares us to grasshoppers?
Isaiah 40:22 describes the inhabitants of the world (those who live in the world) “as grasshoppers” because they are so small compared to God.
This verse is using a metaphor (a word picture) to help us imagine the really big differences between us and God. Sometimes we get caught up with the things that happen in our lives, and our problems or things that make us happy seem really big. We start to forget that God is bigger than our problems and that God is better than anything or anyone else.
But this verse helps to remind us of what is real in the “big picture.” If we could back up from our lives and zoom out, out, out, like we were in a jet plane, or even a space station, and looking back down at Earth, we would be reminded that God’s universe is very big, and that we are very tiny compared to it. There are over six billion other people on Earth, each with his own set of talents and wishes and temptations and trials.
God can see the “big picture.” When He looks down on us, it is almost like we are a bunch of little grasshoppers hopping and buzzing around, doing our own business, thinking of our own small little lives. He knows each of us individually. He sees us and thinks about us, even when we let other things crowd Him out of our minds and we forget to think of Him.
Isaiah 40:22 reminds us that God is greater than we are! Just imagine yourself as a jumpy little grasshopper that God could cup in the palm of His hand.
Jesus said in John 10:29, “My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
“Them” in that verse is the people who have trusted Jesus as their Savior. No one is able to take them out of God’s hand! What a wonderful, protective, loving, and mighty God is the God of the Bible! He is greater than any trial or temptation that comes into our lives. He is stronger than wars or hurricanes or death. He is better than any other god we might be tempted to worship. He is mightier than any enemy who might try to scare us.
The next time you see a grasshopper or cricket, let it remind you of the “big picture”: If you have asked Jesus to be your Saviour, God holds you in His hand like that. He is a whole lot bigger than you are! God will hold you gently in His hand, and He will never let you go. He loves you too much.
God is truly greater than all of us.
My Response:
» Do I forget the “big picture” sometimes and imagine that God is only a small part of my life?
» How can I show that I believe God is bigger than my problems?
» How can I show that I believe God is better than the things that steal my attention away from Him?