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“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?

“For this God is our God forever and forever: he will be our guide even unto death.” (Psalm 48:14)

For her twelfth birthday, Julie wanted to go on a real adventure. Her dad decided to take her whitewater rafting. Dad and Julie got onto a bus with rafts piled on top of it. Everyone on the bus was excited as they rode to the river. Julie could see that some parts of the river were calm, but there were some really strong rapids. When she and her dad got off the bus and they walked down to the bank of the river, she could see there were huge boulders in the middle of it. Suddenly, Julie started wondering what she had been thinking when she said she wanted an adventurous birthday. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, after all! She was shaking a little as Dad helped her get her lifejacket on and handed her a paddle.

But she felt better when a man with a Starbucks ball cap gathered some of them together and started explaining what they were going to do. He told the group that his name was Rob, and that he was going to be their guide for the day. He said that there are different categories of whitewater rapids. In the rating system they used, “1” meant “barely moving,” and “6” meant “Niagara Falls.” Julie blinked and swallowed hard. She had not planned to go rafting on anything like Niagara Falls! She was a little comforted to hear Rob say that the river they were going on was only a “3” or “4.”

Rob showed Julie and her group where and how they should sit in the raft, and then he jumped in the back. They traveled down the river, bouncing through rapids and dodging boulders. Rob would shout simple instructions as they moved along; they paddled when he said “Paddle” and rested when he said “Rest.” Julie could tell that they were sticking to the most exciting part of the river–where the action was. She also noticed that Rob was not only paddling with his oar, but he was also using his oar as a rudder. He used it to steer their raft around the boulders, through the peaceful waters, and over the rough rapids. Julie decided she trusted Rob. She smiled when she saw that he had somehow managed to keep his Starbucks cap on the whole time! Rob had guided people down this same river for years, and he knew how to get them down the river safely. And not only was he going to get them safely back on shore, but he was also going to take them right through the most exciting rapids and give them the best possible journey.

Life is a little like that river. Have you ever stopped to think that God is an expert Guide? Sometimes things go along smoothly. Things are good with your family and friends. God is guiding you through the smooth times. But the life of a Christian will not always be easy. A full life, with lots of the best kind of adventure, is going to have really rough times.

No matter what is happening right now, God is the most trustworthy Guide you could ever have. He is all-knowing. He sees everything and knows how to handle everything. He is all-powerful. He is absolute control of any circumstance that you face in your life, and He can protect you during anything you have to go through. He is faithful. He will not leave you to take care of yourself if you count on Him for His help. You can ask Him to guide you and give you wisdom through both the smooth and the rough places in your life. Depend on God to be your Guide. He is more than worthy of your trust.

God is a faithful and dependable Guide Who deserves our trust.

My Response:
» Do I lean on myself instead of asking God for wisdom and help?
» When I am in trouble, do I look to God as the only perfect Guide?

“Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” ( Genesis 11:9)

Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone spoke the same language? Then we could all understand one another! Missionaries wouldn’t have to learn a foreign language when they left for the mission field, businessmen wouldn’t have to use interpreters when they had a business meeting overseas, and we could travel the world and be able to talk to anyone we wanted!

That may sound like a great plan to us, but God had even better plans. It was God Who created languages, and He did it for a purpose. For hundreds of years after God first created the world, everyone spoke the same language, and everyone could understand everyone else. The people became very wicked, though, and did what was right in their own eyes instead of loving and obeying God. To judge them, God sent a great flood to destroy the whole world. After God rescued Noah and his family from the flood, God gave them a command. They were supposed to multiply (grow the family) and spread out all over the world. In other words, they were supposed to scatter around and fill up the world with their children and grandchildren. Earth would be filled again with people who would know and worship the one true God.

Over the next years, Noah’s family did grow, but they did not move to different parts of the earth like God had commanded. In fact, instead of worshipping God the way He wanted them to worship Him (by obeying his commands, for example), they decided it would be a better idea to worship God by building a tower so high it would reach Him up in heaven. Have you ever heard of “The Tower of Babel”? The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Noah’s family started building this tower and a city of worship around it.

God was angry at their plans to worship Him however they pleased while disobeying His other commands. They had not scattered around and replenished (re-filled) the different parts of the world. They had not taught their children and grandchildren the right things about God and how He expected to be worshipped.

In the middle of this huge construction project, God brought judgment down on it. He decided to mix up the languages. Can you imagine? Maybe you are on a ladder, working on the tower. You ask your second cousin to pass the hammer and some nails over…and he acts confused. He is not joking, either. He really has no clue what you are saying! He tries to answer you, but his words sound really funny to you, and you don’t know what he means. Now, you have known this guy all your life! He is related to you! And suddenly neither of you can understand what the other is saying?

It did not take long for the people to realize something very different was happening, and that God must have been the One doing it. God confused the languages of the people to help them stop doing things their own way and to help them fulfill his command to go out and replenish all the world. As people walked aimlessly around, trying to find someone who could understand them, they naturally divided into smaller groups according to language. These groups gradually split off from the others and moved to different parts of the world. They finally scattered and became the different nations of people we have today.

Wow! Did you know that God had such a specific purpose in creating languages? God has a purpose for everything He does, even in confusing a bunch of disobedient people thousands of years ago. A God Who can create languages is a powerful God! God’s plans are always designed to work things out for His glory and for His people’s best good. If only we would follow His plans instead of doing things our own way!

God is the sovereign Creator, and He can carry out what He wants done, even if people try to do the opposite.

My Response:
» Am I disobeying what God has shown me He wants me to do?
» Am I tempted to honor God my own way rather than how He wants to be honored?
» Do I need to do a better job remembering that God has a specific purpose in everything He does?

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

We hear many people talk about how much God loves us. Have you ever stop to think about how powerful God is? Joshua 10 tells a great story of God’s power! Take the time today and read verses 1-15.

In the Old Testament, we can read about how God specially chose a group of people called the “Israelites” to be His children. When God stood with Joshua and the children of Israel, there was no kingdom on Earth that could stand against His people. We know how powerful God is. God controls the weather. He can send hailstorms, hurricanes, tornados, and floods. He created the whole planet, and His power is greater than earthquakes and tidal waves and glaciers. God controls history, too. He has helped some armies win battles that were impossible for humans to win. In the Bible, there are stories about many miracles that God did that we humans could never do! God has proved over and over again how powerful He is.

But what if God only ever showed His power, but not His love? But do you know what else we learn about God from His Word? God loves His people and He wants to deliver them. God is powerful, and God loves perfectly, so He must be just as powerful in His loving as He is in everything else He does. God’s love is powerful.

Because He was their loving and powerful God and Father, God taught His people by disciplining them. When the Israelites obeyed God, then God would bless them with victory. They were small armies and had not been trained how to fight, but God helped them win, over and over again. But when the Israelites disobeyed God, then God would have to punish them for their sin. The Israelites suffered whenever they disobeyed God. One time, the Earth opened up and swallowed some of them. One time, God sent poisonous snakes. One time, they lost many of their men in a battle. But through it all, God loved them and He helped them when they turned to Him for help.

In the New Testament, we can read about when God came to Earth Himself. When Jesus Christ, Who is God, came to be born as a human being, He invited all people to be His children. He came to do the impossible. He was powerful enough to live a life without sin. He was powerful enough to bear the sins of men and the rejection of His Father when He died on the cross. He was powerful enough to raise up from the grave. None of us could have done any of those things!

Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is powerful proof that God loves powerfully. He loved the world so much that He sent His Son into it–not to condemn it and wreck it and make a mess of it, but to redeem and rescue and deliver and save anyone who comes to Him and trusts Him to help.

God’s love is powerful enough to deliver us from our sins through Jesus Christ.

My Response:
» Have I asked God to deliver me from my sin?
» When was the last time I told someone about God’s love for him or her?

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Victoria put her arms around Aunt Grace and hugged her as hard as she could. “It’s so hard to say good-bye, Aunt Grace,” she said. “I wish you could stay with us instead of going back to Africa.”

Aunt Grace set her suitcase on the floor and knelt down to look right into Victoria’s eyes. “It’s hard for me to say good-bye too, Torybell,” she said. Torybell was the special name that only Aunt Grace called her. “I love you, and I’ve had so much fun staying at your house and playing with you. But you know something? I love Jesus even more. And Jesus loves the people in Cameroon that I work with. He wants them to have the Bible in their own language. That’s why I have to go back. Jesus has called me to learn their language and translate His Word so they can read it and know of His love. And when Jesus calls, I have to follow. You understand, don’t you?”

Victoria nodded. She closed her eyes to squeeze back the tears, and Aunt Grace gave her one more quick hug. “I’ll pray for you, Aunt Grace.”

“Thanks, Torybell.”

Victoria stood next to her mom at the window of the airport, and they watched until Aunt Grace’s plane was out of sight. Victoria looked up at her mom. “I’m going to pray every day for those people in Cameroon,” she said.

“Let’s make a point to pray together–every day,” said Mom. “We’ll pray that they’ll read the Bible Aunt Grace is putting into their language and that God will save them.”

Victoria was quiet as they walked to the car. Maybe someday I’ll be like Aunt Grace and live in another part of the world, she thought. It would be hard to say good-bye to Mom and Dad. But it would sure be great to tell the world about God’s love.

God loves the world and wants the whole world to know of His salvation.

My Response:
» Am I praying for God to save people around the world?
» How can I show God that His love for the whole world is important to me?