Meteoric, oceanic, astronomic, and titanic

 ^5-6 God's love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic,
   His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic.
   Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost;
   Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks. 

(Psalm 36:5-6)

The Message Bible has a way of bringing out certain aspects of the Word in a way that speaks to us.  This is one of those passages that takes on meaning as we consider just what is described about God's character and how he takes care of us.  

• His love is meteoric - a meteor is a brilliant thing, appearing suddenly, swift in its path.  There is a sense of the spectacular in beholding it.  So it is with God's love - it is brilliant, with nothing else comparing to its magnificence.  It is there exactly when we need it - no delay in his reaching out to us.  It is direct - meeting us exactly where we are.
• His loyalty is astronomic - enormous, exceedingly great.  Loyalty is another word to describe faithfulness.  His faithfulness to us is greater than we can ever imagine - even in our unfaithfulness, he remains steadfastly faithful.
• His purpose is titanic - his aim for our lives is enormous in strength, power, and possibility.  He does more than create us - he sustains us, he guards us, his back is never turned to accomplishing his purpose in us.
• His verdicts oceanic - his judgments are large, going beyond the surface of what can be seen to the inner recesses of a man's heart.  His decisions are sure and they are all-encompassing - God never leaves out the details.

Yet, in his largeness, nothing ever gets lost!  This is probably the one point in this passage that gives us the greatest hope - not one thing escapes his view, not one thing escapes his attention!  We may feel like "no one is paying attention" to the chaos of our lives, but when we fall back to this passage and consider it, we become acutely aware that not even one hair on our head escapes his attention.

The next verses in this chapter go on to say that a man that realizes these things about God's love, loyalty, purpose and judgment will be quick to run TO God - not from him.  We run for the shelter of his wings - kept there in the midst of all that comes rushing in on us.  I daresay that we often run the opposite direction in our inability to really trust God with the outcomes of our lives.  In so doing, we run INTO chaos, rather than escaping it.

Trust is a hard thing for many - but look at what this passage says about who it is that we are called to place our trust in.  If we begin to consider God's carefulness over our lives, we begin to sense that he is "trust-worthy".  You may not be able to trust many around you in the throws of your life's chaos, but he remains steadfast and fully worthy of your trust.  Throw yourself into him and begin to enjoy the shelter of his wings.