“With whom, then, will you compare God?  To what image will you liken Him?”  . . . “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  Has it not been told you from the beginning?  Have you not understood since the earth was founded?”  Isaiah 40:18, 21

Isaiah 40 is an interesting chapter of the Bible.  It begins with words of comfort for a people who have endured the consequences — punishment for their sin.  The chapter ends with words of comfort and encouragement for those who are weary and weak but would put their trust and hope in God.  The bulk of the chapter uses a series of statements, questions, and potential comparisons to show that God is the only person, place, or thing deserving of worship and capable of bringing the comfort written about.

Yet, how often do we as a national culture, as a church culture, or even as an individual, put a person, place, or thing in a position of highest worth in our life — even over God?  In the U.S. culture that I am familiar with, American Idols are more than just people who want to make it big in music or show business.  American idols are diverse and widespread, taking countless forms and means to draw our worship and devotion to something other than God.

Through Isaiah, God addresses these three major categories that people tend to worship, expecting comfort but ultimately finding none. 

Often times, we try to put a person — another human being — in the place of God to provide our comfort and even our salvation.  God says that this will never work because “all people are like grass, and all human faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.”  Physical life and relationships as we know them here on earth are temporary.  When we set a person in the place of God, gaining our full devotion and worship, we can never be comforted fully because we have no certainty of their continued existence and presence in our life.  This frailty of both human life and human faithfulness is in stark contrast to the everlasting nature of God whose Word endures forever.

There is also a tendency by some to take notice of places where God’s incredible handiwork is evident and worship creation rather than the creator.  We see the forests, the mountains, the farmer’s fields, the oceans, and the heavens and we get a sense of something greater than ourselves.  We sense a permanence, at least beyond our life, that we count on for stability, strength, and comfort when all else fails.  We worship — place our trust and devotion in — land we own and the security of real estate being forever.  This is a false sense of security . . . a security that ignores the creator of that which we worship.  If nature looks so incredible that it draws you into worshipping it, God says, “Think again!”  If you want big and majestic, think about who measured the waters of the earth in the hollow of His hand. . . . Think about who marked off the heavens with the breadth of His hand. . . . Think about who has held the dust of the earth in a basket. . . . Think about who can weigh the mountains and hills on a scales or balance.  When you do, you begin to think about God and how all of the power of nature is held in the palm of God’s hand — a small measure of His strength and ability.  Do you want something big and permanent to worship and provide comfort in your life?  God is much better than nature because God created and has power over nature.

Finally, we have a tendency to be drawn to things of our own making or design to bring comfort and strength to our life.  It may be a physical item, not necessarily a statue that we label as our god but nonetheless an item that we worship as our god.  It may not be so much of a physical thing, but a philosophy — a way of life or system of living, a government or nationality — that becomes our god that we worship and expect to comfort us.  Either way, we are left wanting.  God says that compared to Him, the nations are nothing — like “a drop in a bucket”, like “dust on the scales”.  If we look to America, or any other nation, to be our source of comfort, strength, and salvation–our god–we will have settled for an incredibly inferior and inadequate god. 

How can we compare God to anything of our making?  God is not someone, or something, that we designed or constructed for our purpose and pleasure.  Indeed it is us who were designed and constructed by God for His good and perfect purpose. 

As you contemplate the eternal nature of God, recognize that nothing you and I would attempt to put into His place will ever have the ability to provide the lasting comfort, strength, and salvation that we need.  Only a God whose name is “I AM” can do that!