My guilty pleasure is watching Survivor. To win that show, everyone must lie. And those being lied to must become lie detectors. Sometimes the lies are so interwoven that I cannot imagine how the contestants sort out the truth. I watch as each person clings to what they believe is truth—only to be blindsided and voted off the island.
Lately, I’ve begun to see Survivor played out in real life. When I get focused on the issues at hand, I can become frustrated, frantic, worried, or even angry. Living in this world is hard. We act atrociously and believe lies. We pick “our truth” out of the pile and cling to it as if we are the only ones wise enough to see it. Then we draw lines in the sand and throw rocks at those who believe differently. So…who gets voted off the island?
While reading Isaiah 40, it occurred to me that redirecting my focus to God gives me a handle on those indiscernible lies—and on my own destructive thoughts. How long has it been since I stopped my negative thought process just to look at God? And what is the point of it?
I know He is unfathomably big, all-powerful, and all-knowing. I understand that. But have I stopped to consider just how big?
How does that benefit me?
Ah…that’s the thing. It wasn’t written merely for my instruction—it was written for my state of mind. It points me in the right direction. It is praise. And praise helps me visualize truth. Praise changes me.
So let’s take a moment in the middle of a busy day to step into the room next to God. Let’s peek around that golden curtain.
In the Bible, many passages try to describe Him. Maybe it’s time to stop and wonder at what they say. And by wonder, I mean imagine. Imagine the sights and sounds of His majesty.
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From Isaiah 40
12-15,17-18,21-26 NIV
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him? Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
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Now how do you feel?
Do you feel a little less important?
Do those shouting different “truths” still matter as much?
Did some of that multitude of worries melt away?
This resets my hard drive.
My challenge:
Pick a passage that speaks of the greatness of God and place it somewhere you’ll see it throughout your day. Then maybe—just maybe—it will become part of you…a way to settle your mind when you feel lost in this world of lies, fear, anger, or frustration.
