Well, here’s the scene. I’m sitting in a shopping centre food court. My body is tense, my stomach is knotted, my mind is overwhelmed. My to-do list is long and my progress this particular day is small. Unexpected delays and complications have slowed me down and I’m thinking of all the deadlines I have—a show to plan, a major interview to prepare, an editorial to write, a magazine article that’s due, some speaking invitations to respond to. There’s a multitude of details to cover for Compassion Day, which I coordinate. And there’s that second book contract sitting on my desk. I haven’t even begun to work on that one.

Sitting in that food court—my mind swirling with worry while busy people rush around me—I’m brought haltingly aware of my finitude; of my limits. I just can’t do all the things I want to do; at least not at once. There are books to read and conversations to have and ideas to explore, but I must limit them and prioritise. My mind and body are much smaller than my dreams and desires. I am limited—limited in time and energy and ability.

I unwrap my burger and take a bite. For a few minutes I’m forced to stop and take stock. And while everything in me wants to write a new to-do list and prioritise, another thought enters my mind. I begin to think about One who is unlimited—a Being with no lack of time, energy or strength; a Being with no tension between the desire to do and the ability to accomplish; a Being who never encounters stress because he can’t be exhausted. My stressful day leads me to imagine the infinite God.

I say ‘imagine’, although that’s not really the right word. God is unlike anything we’re familiar with. Everything we know has limits—human lifespans, electricity supplies, cash flows. Food has a use-by date, the earth has limited minerals, and even our oceans don’t have endless water. But imagine I try.

I remember a verse of Scripture: ‘I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?’ (Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 26). I begin to contemplate what this really means. If God isn’t bound by time and space then there’s never a time he’s unavailable, and there’s not a place in the world where he isn’t present. We can find him in outback beauty, peak hour traffic, or the smog-filled streets of Kolkatta. If there’s nothing that God doesn’t know then he reads our every concern, dream, and secret. No cry goes unheard, no pain unfelt, no evil unrecorded. If God has unlimited power than he can attend to a Middle East war and a child’s prayer all at once. No crisis is beyond hope and no life beyond redemption.

I don’t like being limited. I wish I could do everything on my to-do list! But in that food court I was reminded just how limited I really am—and just how powerful God really is.

© 2007 Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker, broadcaster and author of Unseen Footprints: Encountering the divine along the journey of life (Scripture Union, 2005). www.thethoughtfactory.net