"Lord, I don't ask that I should win, but please, please don't let me finish behind Akabusi."
Psalm 94
How great is our God!The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Psalm 93:4 KJV
Two things this week (mid-April 2021) caused me to reflect on the greatness of God. Archbishop John Sentamu, in a tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who had just died said that Psalm 93:4 was a favourite Scripture of the Duke. Remember that the Duke had served in the navy and had therefore seen a few mighty seas in his time.
The other was a statement in an obituary of the distinguished Cambridge physicist John Polkinghorne: “Once asked how he imagined the afterlife, he replied: ‘People sometimes say that eternal life would be just boring: you know, sitting on a cloud and shouting ‘hallelujah’, or something. But it is the unending exploration of the reality of God, progressively unveiled . . . that seems to me the most persuasive picture of the life to come’”.
The thought of God being so great that we will never fully understand his greatness throughout eternity is truly a mind-blowing thought.
That the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral was attended by only 30 people (the UK COVID-safe legal limit) in a church which holds 800, was a poignant reminder of the madness of 2021.
This week saw the 100 days to the Olympics landmark. Will they happen? Even if they do, will the Games COVID-style be recognizable as Olympics? Will it be safe to attend? Will athletes be able to compete at anything like their potential, having been starved of competition?
It is a timely reminder that our God is mightier than the noise of many waters, mightier than COVID, beyond our comprehension – yet He loves us more than we can imagine or grasp.