Years ago, my family and I visited the then World Trade Centre in New York City. We went up one of the towers that took us from the ground floor to the very top of the 110th storey in less than 4 minutes. The viewing deck on the top floor was surrounded by windows so people could experience the view atop the tallest peak in NYC. One of the things that amazed me was that when I looked down through the window, cars driving along the streets looked like a string of ants moving about and people walking were barely visible. At that moment, I was on top of the world and this made me feel so big when the views at the bottom paled in comparison to the heights on which I was standing. A few months later, this grand architecture tragically came crashing down.
When I marvelled at what human hands have made, which stands one day and falls the next, I am reminded of the Grand Architect who formed the heavens and the earth by merely speaking them into being by the Power of His Voice. The Psalmist wonderfully proclaims in Psalm 33:6,
By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made. And by the breath of his mouth all their host.”
Verse 9 says,
For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”
What God creates, stands firm. It will never collapse unless He Himself ordains it to.
The irony of the experience is that, as we kept going higher and higher inside the tower, the more we felt bigger and bigger. But the reality is that when we try to understand the God who made the universe, we become smaller and smaller. God is much bigger than what His creation could ever reveal Him to be. And yet, we are His special creation as the only ones made in His image. David understands this well in Psalm 8 when he looks at the heavens, the work of His fingers, the moon and the stars He has set in place. He marvels at the grand design and intricacy of His works but the more pertinent question that he quickly comes face to face with is “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”.
Beloved, it would do us well to have this thought as we behold God’s creation. Knowing how big our God is and how small and insignificant we are should drive us to our knees in humble gratitude. He for this dying race sent His only Son to become one of us. The Creator God, infinite in power and majesty, condescended to a lowly servant. The One who in the heavens is worshipped by the myriads of His Holy angels, was nailed to a cross by the very hands He created. All because of His Grace that He so freely poured on us to restore our sinful nature to the Righteousness of His Son.
When we stand “on top of the world”, be it in our work, in our schools, or in any position we find ourselves, may we humble ourselves in light of who our God is and echo the words of John the Baptist: “He must increase and I must decrease”.
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