Umbrella Faith
I came across this scripture the other day and it got me to thinking. Isaiah 40:22 (NIV) says “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” Let’s break it down.
“He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth.” When we look out to a sunrise or sunset, all we can see is the horizon, where the sky meets the earth; we can’t tell from standing, or driving, even for long distances, that the earth is round. This verse gave me a vision of God holding a small ball in his hands, able to see its entirety at a glance. His omniscience should not scare us, but instead give us a sense of comfort, knowing that He always knows our struggles and is already at work creating a solution.
The next line says that we are like grasshoppers. I don’t know if there is a deeper meaning to this other than that as big as the earth is, it is but a speck when compared to the size of our God. Have you ever been in an airplane and seen the cars on a freeway, after you’ve taken off or you’re coming in for a landing…they look like ants. Even when you see satellite images of the earth, you can’t see individual buildings, let alone people. Yet God can see each of His creations clearly, enthroned high above the circle of the earth.
The last two lines are what really captured my attention. “He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” Some versions use the word veil or curtain instead of canopy; either way, it’s a covering, spread out like a tent to live in. That is protection over us; a refuge that we can run into, like running into a tent to get out of the rain. I once read that an umbrella cannot stop the rain, but it allows us to stand in the rain. What is an umbrella? A small canopy over your head to prevent you from getting wet. This verse says that God stretched out the heavens like a canopy. Faith and trust in God may not remove the storms in our life, but they do provide us comfort, strength and protection to ride out the rain.