I don’t know if it’s a drop in the barometric pressure, a problem of over-population, or just friendly natives, but this morning before I was out of my PJs, I had personal encounters with 3 spiders, 1 pincher bug, 2 rolly-pollies, 1 copper beetle, and 2 moths, all enjoying residence inside my house.
My rule is kindness to animals unless they enter without an invitation. After that, it’s “death to intruders.”
From a bug’s vantage point I see how running indoors has its advantages: shelter from a downpour, warmth on a cold day, an abundance of food, and, well, maybe the fellowship. Whatever the cause of this morning’s influx, my reasons for why it was unacceptable trumped their reasons for coming in.
Today’s wildlife scenario put me in mind of an interesting Bible verse written from God’s perspective. He says he sees us as grasshoppers far below him. Interesting.
His point is that people are small and helpless compared to him, just like a skittering spider is to me (and why I feel free to step on it). I have full confidence that I can eliminate it.
Not that people are to God as a bug is to me. The Isaiah chapter is just trying to make the point that God is so much greater than we are, we can’t even comprehend it.
For example, in the real estate business when a house is put up for sale, realtors look for “comparables” in the neighbor- hood to help set a fair price. These comparably-priced homes are even listed for house hunters to see, to help them make a realistic offer.
But with God, there are no comparables.
Isaiah 40 is a Scripture passage that attempts to describe our extraordinary God as effectively as human language can. Jesus taught with questions, and in these verses God does that too, using a string of fascinating rhetorical questions to make his point:
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? (vv. 12-14)
The same answer works with all of them: “No one but God.”
He’s making the point that he could have said, “Death to all intruders,” stepping on us like a man steps on a grasshopper. But the reality is that he did just the opposite. Not only did he let us live, he lifted the lowly “grasshoppers” to royal status by permitting us join his family.
Our only right response has to be absolute awe.
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:18)