158. The Small will be Strong
Isaiah 60:22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.
There are many promises in the Bible about the humble, weak, small, poor, and lowly becoming big, strong, rich, and lifted up. This is a major Biblical theme called by a name: “The Great Reversal.” Jesus humbled himself, became humble and poor, lowered himself to the lowest depth, and then was exalted, lifted up, given glory above all human and non-human beings.
The same thing that happened to Jesus happens to us who believe in him: “When I am weak then He is strong.” “I am weak but He is strong.” “His strength is made perfect in weakness.” “God resists the proud, but give grace to the humble,” In the Beatitudes Jesus blesses the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, and the persecuted. We by ourselves alone are weak, meek, poor, small and lowly. This is what God says, and this is what He wants us to think of ourselves: weak, small, sinful, and in great need. Then, when we repent and believe, Jesus becomes for a thousand fighting warriors overcoming our enemies daily. When we recognize our smallness in the face of Sin, Death, and the Devil we turn to Jesus and we become a strong nation.
We ourselves alone do not become bigger and stronger, but we are so identified with Christ, who is big and strong, that it looks like we are doing mighty things. In Christ we are big. We are bigger than Death, for we have God’s life. We are better than Sin, for the Spirit in us is Holy. We defeat Satan with the Truth of God’s Word. The Gospel is the Power of God.
Interestingly, the Lord says He will hurry it up in His time. This is an oxymoron: hurry up and wait. He will do it quickly, but it is in his time, which may seem slow to us. We trust His promise and we believe His timing is perfect. When you put yourself in God’s hands you are in Big Hands. We can entrust ourselves to the bigness and goodness of God.