Courtney Gilmore How much does God involve Himself with what is happening in our world? Does He see what’s going on in each one of our lives? If He does, then does He act on what He’s seeing? What are His limits? Does He have any? Is His power only manifested in heaven or does He exercise it here? I guess the question is: Can the Lord reach down from heaven and involve Himself in our lives or does He just sit there watching, unwilling or unable to intervene? Let’s see what the Bible says.
The Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually. He considers all their works.
Psalm 33:13-15
There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:13
God is definitely watching from His throne on high. He sees everyone & everything. Nothing is hidden from His view and He is aware of everything we’re doing. So, if He is paying attention to what’s going on down here, then apparently He cares, right? But is He just watching, or does He involve Himself in what goes on in the world?
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.
2 Chronicles 16:9
How wonderful to know that He is working on our behalf! He also expressed this to Jacob at a time when he must have been wondering if God had any power over his life or if He even cared.
Then he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven, and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Genesis 28:12
God wanted Jacob (and us) to see His angels traveling back and forth from earth to heaven, so we would know that He isn’t just watching. He is actively involved! So then the question becomes, how much is He really able to do? When the Israelites complained about not having any meat to eat in the wilderness, God told Moses He would provide enough for them to eat for a month. Moses, thinking in human terms, said:
The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot, yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?
Numbers 11:21-22
So, now we’re getting down to the heart of how we all feel, right? If we believe in God, we probably do believe that He sees us and we must logically believe that He acts on our behalf or we wouldn’t pray. But, do we really believe that He can do things that are out of the bounds of the rules of this world?
Moses had seen God execute 10 plagues on the Egyptians and part the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. Then he watched as the water collapse on the Egyptian army, killing them all & ensuring the Israelites’ freedom. Yet, He didn’t even think to ask God to provide them meat because there just isn’t meat in the desert, right? Everyone knows that’s just not how the world works. Then even when God told him He would give it, Moses seemed to doubt the Lord’s ability.
Does this sound more like us? It brings us back to the question of: How far is God’s reach? God answered Moses by saying:
Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.
Numbers 11:23
The following verses tell us that “a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea.” They surrounded the Israelite’s camp, hovering just a few feet off the ground. The people spent 2 days and a night gathering the birds & the person that gathered the very least still had enough to fill a 50 gallon bucket!
Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
Jeremiah 32:17
Apparently, God does reach into our world and into our lives. Why are we so surprised? He created all the things of this earth, so why would He also not have power over them? The Lord is not bound to the rules of this world because He created those too. He demonstrated this to the disciples too when a storm threatened to sink their boat.
He (Jesus) arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!
Mark 4:39-41
If He has power over the wind, the sea, and the birds, can He not also do whatever we ask? Why do we talk to Him like He is an earthly father, willing to help us but somehow limited in power? Am I the only one who believes that He can help, but still sees the need to spell out to Him how He might go about it?
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Ephesians 3:20
We can only think in human terms, so by telling God how we think He can best help us, we are limiting Him to what we see as possible. Also, this way of thinking keeps us from asking for miracles and believing that He can perform them in our lives.
So today, let’s put our faith into action and ask for miracles & then watch Him do things that we couldn’t even think to spell out. His arm is long & His reach is beyond anything we can imagine!
Excerpt from Episode 87 “God’s Power to Answer Prayer” on Podcast and YouTube
