Small

READ: JOB 19:5-27; 38:1-15; LUKE 13:34; ROMANS 8:18-29, 38-39

Wow, I am so small. The thought was involuntary. And irrefutable. It wasn’t good or bad. It was just true. I was walking through a tropical conservatory, and it was like being transported to another world. Shielded from the elements by the glass panes of a giant greenhouse, the trees in this mini-rainforest towered above me. Leaves two or three times taller than me hung down like great curtains. Other branches stretched up, reaching toward the ceiling fifty feet above my head.

Surrounded by such foliage, I felt a bit like Job. Before entering the conservatory, I had been pouring out my complaints against God. Much like Job, I had told God how unfair I thought He was being, how angry I was, how much He had hurt me, and how I wondered if I could even trust Him. Everything was too much—too much to bear, too much to carry. Too much was being asked of me. Now, faced with these mighty trees, I felt my own smallness. And yet, I didn’t feel afraid or unimportant. I was in awe of the trees—and the one who made them. Their leaves felt like a protective canopy, like the wings of a mother hen gathering in her chicks.

God answered Job’s accusations by showing him what He had made—the heights of the heavens, the depths of the seas, and the might of amazing creatures. Job must have felt so small. Perhaps that’s what led him to say, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

God hasn’t given me answers to my questions, and I may never fully understand what He’s doing in this lifetime. But maybe I don’t have to. Maybe it’s enough to know that God is on the throne, and He is working all things together for His purposes. He stretches His wings over me like a mother hen gathering in her chicks. I might have more accusations to hurl at God tomorrow. But if He’s big enough to make the mighty trees of the rainforest, then I can trust that He’s big enough to work all of the mess in my life into something worthwhile. • Taylor Eising

• Job pours out all his complaints, even accusing God of wronging him (Job 19:6). But in the end Job concludes, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). Have you ever poured out your complaints against God? God invites us to bring Him the good, the bad, and the ugly. He loves us, and He wants to bring healing to our hearts. In fact, Jesus died and rose from the dead to make that healing possible. But we usually can’t receive healing without first acknowledging our hurts. What hurts do you have to bring before Him today?

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2 (NIV)