Not One Thing is Missing

Isaiah 40:26 - Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might, and the strength of His power; not one is missing.

Sometimes I think I can be very simplistic in my view of God. Yet there is a very deep understanding that wells up in my soul. 

It is hard for some to understand that all of creation was made by the Lord. Not by His hands but by His very voice. He commanded and it was so. It's something we just have to take at His word. The part of the beginning verse that stands out is: not one is missing. Nothing is missing. Can we comprehend that? Not one star, not one tree, flower, fish, etc. Not one.

A friend came over one day and we took a walk. We talked about the immensity of God and His creation, the intricacy of it all. Every time either of us thinks deeply on this glorious creation we get to a point where we just have to stop...and just know that He is God. That He is greater than we can imagine. That He spoke and things came into existence.

Not one is missing. Not one of us is missing in His plan. We have all been created for something. Like the hosts of stars in the heavens. They were placed there and hung there by our God. He will keep them there as long as He chooses. Like us, He placed us here and we will be here as long as He chooses. 

If we cannot fathom God creating, it may be that we have missed this point...that all we have, all we are, all we will be given is because of Him. Nothing will be missing for us either, if we stay focused on Him, if we look up, instead of at eye level or even down, at our own daily circumstances. 

It is vital that we look beyond ourselves, our things, our own strengths and look up at Who is the Creator. We can do in our own strength but it is truly God who gives us what we really need. We may be missing out on many things in this life if we have not sought Him in all things.

Do we ask if this is what the Lord would want us to do? Is this the right decision to make? Is this the direction to go? Is this purchase the right one? Do we really need this? 

We can begin to understand God just by taking in all we see around us. Take a good hard look. Don't let another day go by without seriously contemplating just the things of nature. Oswald Chambers suggests we turn our imagination "aright:" If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in Nature. In every wind that blows, in every night and day of the year, in every sign in the sky, in every blossoming and every withering of the earth, there is a real coming of God to us if we will simply use our starved imagination to realize it.

Starved imagination. Wow. Have we come to a place where we have taken nature for granted? Do we look and think, ho hum, when we see something outside the living room window? Or do we become excited again at even the most common occurrence? Or has something else become more interesting than contemplating the God who created you and has a great plan for your life, one you cannot imagine? Can you quiet yourself at all during the day and think about Him and what He has done for you?

If this is you, Chambers suggests we may be caught up in ourselves. Is your imagination looking on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Your work? Your conception of what a worker should be? ...when you are (finally) up against difficulties you have no power, you can only endure in darkness...do not look back to your own experience; it is God Whom you need.

I couldn't have said it better. Our lives should be consumed with thoughts of God. Where is He in this circumstance? Did He leave you or might you have left Him? When tragedy strikes where do you first turn? Do you call out to God for strength? Do you ask for His guidance, peace, comfort? Or do you call on help from family, friends, or even internalize and attempt to draw from your own so-called wisdom or strengths? God will provide what you need but you need to seek Him above all things.

God is real. He is powerful to those who seek Him. He is always there for any need. He may not always answer in the way you would want, but He knows what's best, what we need most. 

Even in the throes of illness we need to focus on what His will is. He can heal if He so chooses, but if the choice is death, He is in that as well. The illness did not come as a surprise to Him. It is our attitude during this time that might be God's test for us. Do we still draw His strength for the moment or the day? If we are His children and in right relationship with Him our greatest assurance that no matter what we endure, we are His.

Are our imaginations starved for God as Chambers asks? Take the time to ask Him directly to help you get a grip on who He is and of what benefit He might be to your life. He is more than willing to listen if you are truly interested in knowing Him. You may not realize it but I think we are all starved for God at some time in our lives. That's when He begins to show up in little things in our lives that don't make sense...yet. The people who are put in your path, the things you begin to hear and might even be annoyed about. It happened to me; it can happen to you.

When I came to Christ and began to know Him, His ways, I looked back and saw clearly times when, though yet a person in the throes of sin, He was protecting me. Coincidence? I don't think so. 

Let your imagination go and let it consider the truth of who He is. Start with taking the time to view nature. That's where He began before He created Man. Consider the intricacies of it all. Consider the depth of wisdom it took to create it (which is nearly impossible because of the enormity of it all) and then consider the intricacy of even your own creation, your birth. Not one thing is missing. Nothing was made by accident. Not even you. Rejoice in the fact that being here, today, in this lifetime, can give you the opportunity to know this incredibly awesome God. 

God's goal has always been for mankind to know Him. His creation happened that we would see His character and wisdom in all He has made...and for our pleasure...that we might contemplate His beauty and character. Even manmade creations are possible only through His creating individuals who knew, through knowledge imparted to them by this amazing God, how to make them. It takes some amount of humility to contemplate the greatness of our God compared to who we think we are! And that is just fine. I'm okay with my plainness in this life. It's not about me, or you, anyway. 

Isaiah 66:2 - "For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist," says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word."