Infinitesimal

Our Load said, “He that endures unto the end shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Life is a journey, and it makes me wonder why some stay the course and others wander off. What makes some successful in a life of faith, patiently enduring, while others fall away? We all have the same temptations. We all go through trials and tribulations. Have you ever found yourself questioning, why am I doing this? Why am I here? I do.

Personally, I find that I have to make little resets, frequently. I’ll call them micro-resets. Small recalibrations from time to time when needed. Slight adjustments in my thinking to get me back on track.

Our fleshly minds are subtle. We can easily get into these ways of thinking that create ruts which are hard to get out of if we are not constantly readjusting to the mind of the spirit. For instance, if we are going through a trial, especially if it is relentless, we can become frustrated and bitter. That bitterness is like acid. You can feel it eating away at you from the inside. That’s a reminder, a flag, that a micro-reset is needed. A recalibration that will bring patience and peace. 

On the other hand, maybe things are going good, too good, and we become complacent or pompous. We become wrapped up in how important we think we are or how much more we can attain in this life in terms of material gain or status. In this regard, realizing a need for micro-resets may be harder but more needful.

Life in this way is like canoeing. Sherrie and I took a little canoe ride this summer on Lake Martin. It’s not something we often do so we kept finding ourselves getting off course. We knew where we wanted to go but we kept having to adjust our path to get there. Talk about marital stress. I’d hate to see the zigzag nature of our path to get back to the beach. We really had to think about how to get back on course and work together. Life is like that. We don’t often go in a straight line but if we have the kingdom in our sites, by God’s grace, we can make adjustments and get there.

This morning, I wanted to talk to you about one of my favorite ways to micro-reset and why. There are several methods that can motivate a recalibration but for me it has got to be contemplating the infinitesimal.

Now you can ponder infinity, and it would have the same effect. The infinitesimal is simply the inverse of infinity. Infinity is the concept of something that is unlimited, endless, without bound. It’s the biggest number you could count plus one more, so you never get there. We might think of travelling out into space and just going, going, going. Do you reach a wall at the end? No, there’s got to be something beyond that.

The infinitesimal is just as mind bending. If you go the other way to something that is really small, how far can you go? If you take a 12” ruler and you want to go from one end to another. If you go 6” you are halfway to the end. If you halve that amount you are again halfway to your goal at 3”. Do that again and again and you’re getting closer. How long before you are at the end of the ruler? Well, you never really get there. Is there any distance that you can’t split in half? You’re always approaching it but never get to the zero point. It’s an infinitesimal distance, and yet I can still talk about the end of the ruler.

That’s a conundrum and has been a debate among mathematicians and philosophers for centuries. There’s all sorts of these little mind games and mathematical puzzles to solve that invoke the concept of infinity. It was a great debate, especially in the early 1600’s between the Catholic Church and great thinkers like Galileo where the Church deemed it was not permissible to use infinitesimals in math. The Jesuits didn’t like it because it didn’t agree with their traditional math and how everything had to be definable. They were concerned that accepting such ideas would undermine the order and harmony of the universe as understood by the Church.

Yet there is no getting around infinity. When I was in university, I somehow survived classes like calculus and differential equations, where we were constantly writing the symbol of infinity into our formulas. You know that little symbol that looks like an eight that fell over. I find it fascinating that our calculations for reality, that have gotten mankind so far in technology and science, must factor in infinity and infinitesimals. In some ways, with that little symbol, there’s the danger that infinity can just become commonplace.

I once knew two brothers, teenagers at the time, and I was talking to them of these concepts in a CYC class. One took it in stride. He didn’t seem too impressed with the concept of infinity. He shrugged his shoulders. The other brother at the very thought was overwhelmed. His mind was blown. He didn’t even want to talk about it. Now which one, do you think, became faithful to God? 

It’s so important, isn’t it brother and sisters, that we nurture and maintain the awe of infinity because that is the God we worship. He has no bounds. He is the infinite one both in the large and small.

I believe that because we are in the image and likeness of God that he has given us this ability to fathom and try to grasp these things. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV) says,

“He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

That eternity in our hearts is the ability to discern the infinite but not to fully grasp it. We know that he has promised us eternal life yet in our mortal frames that is hard to fully comprehend. All we know is that it will be the most wonderful thing we could ever experience. God has given that too us and we cannot neglect it.

This ability then to micro-reset our thinking by contemplating and appreciating the infinitesimal is so effective. What does it do? Here’s three things I can think of. It helps us to be thankful for what we have when thinking about the minimal chances of our actual existence. It also helps us to reevaluate our time here and how we are spending it. Most of all it brings humility. Ironically when we contemplate our infinite God and how small we are in comparison it brings us closer to him.

The Possibilities are Infinitesimal

First of all, let’s think about the infinitesimal when it comes to probabilities. What are the chances of you winning the lottery? Let’s say the Lotto Max jackpot. Data that the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) shared with Global News[1] last year puts the odds at 1 in 33.2 million. If you played Lotto 6/49 the odds are 1 in 13.9 million. That’s a little better but in percentage it’s 0.00000715%. In lotteries and statistics, the probability of winning remains constant regardless of the number of times you play. Now, Christadelphians don’t play the lottery or gamble for the main reason is that it is covetousness, besides the fact that the odds are nearly zero that you’ll win. It’s an exercise in futility, a waste of money and not responsible.

You may not realize it, but I’d say that you’ve already won an amazing lottery. What are the chances of you being born? What’s the possibility of you being you, that is, existing right now? The number kicking around the internet is 1 in 400 trillion. The probability of your parents meeting, the probabilities built into reproduction and multiply those factors times all your ancestors. You’ve already won the lottery multiple times over.

That’s true for every person on this planet. Now think about the probability of being in the truth. It’s even more amazingly infinitesimal. Is it no wonder that Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV),

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

This is such an important perspective that Jesus repeatedly says something similar like “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 21:14).

How amazing then is it that you’ve not only been called, but you’ve been chosen? By God’s grace I think we can be confident in that election if we remain faithful. As I say these words, I’m experiencing a micro-reset right now that is making me so thankful.

Our Time Here is Infinitesimal

I’d like to introduce you to the Greek word for “few” which is “oligos” (ol-ee’-gos G3641). I always laugh at the Strong’s definition because it just says “puny (in extent, degree, number, duration or value).” It just means very little, small, short or brief. 

This is important because the word is also used in relation to time. That thing we did with the ruler can also be done with a clock. If we consider the infinitesimal in this regards it makes us appreciate our time here so much more. This is how James exhorts us in James 4:14,

“For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time (oligos), and then vanisheth away.”

“A little time” is just one Greek word, oligos, puny. That is a perspective that will no doubt produce a micro-reset. What are we doing with our time? Do we wait to change? Are we putting it off because it’s too much work? Life is too short for that.

One of the other practical outcomes of thinking of our infinitesimal life span is the help it can give us to endure through trails. When we are in the thick of a trial which seems long and hard we need to keep this in mind. Comparatively it is but a very short time. In comparison to eternal life, our time of trial is infinitesimal.

Peter uses the word oligos in this way to start and end his first epistle. See if you can see this in 1 Peter 1:5-6,

“[We are being kept] by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season (oligos), if need be (ESV, if necessary), ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations (ESV, trials):” 

“A season” is oligos, this puny little time. This is how he opens the epistle and then he closes with the same thought in 1 Peter 5:10,

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while (oligos), make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

“A while” is oligos, this puny little time of our life. Peter is all about the sufferings of this present time which are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18). God is calling us to infinity, to eternal glory in Jesus Christ. Our life now, in relation to that, is the inverse of infinity, an infinitesimal life span of suffering, practically nothing. Once we are immortal, this life will seem so miniscule.

Our Being is Infinitesimal

So, we’ve considered that the extremely small possibilities of our life can reset our minds to make us grateful. The thought of our time here being so infinitesimal is a motivator to endure through trials. Last of all, we can see how the appreciation for infinity makes us humble. When we consider that God is infinite, where does that put us?

The best place to contemplate this is somewhere away from the city lights where the stars all come out. You lay on your back on a beach or on a hill and just look up. You can almost get the sensation of the earth moving underneath this vast canopy of stars. Psalm 8:3-4 comes to mind,

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

There’s no doubt in my mind that these were the very thoughts of David as a young man. A shepherd at night in the open field. A solitary figure with his sheep around him. Looking up at the expanse of the stars and considering the infinite God. The only thought that can come of it is, “What is man that you are mindful of him?”

David never lost his appreciation for the infinite and his relation to it. Even when he became king, and he had everything. When God gave him a promise you know what was the first thing out of David’s mouth? “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” (2 Sam. 7:18 ESV). “Who am I” was truly the humble mind of David. That was genuine and sincere. He said this on multiple occasions, and it wasn’t just platitudes. He must have been constantly micro-resetting himself.

Is it any wonder that a like man, Abraham, who also received promises from God was of similar character. He was a rich powerful man. A notable person in the land. Yet, when negotiating for the remnant in Sodom he said this in Genesis 18:27,

“Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:”

It’s that phrase which I think is so perfect to start are own personal prayers. Who am I but dust and ashes? Abraham saw himself as nothing in God’s eyes. Abraham knew he was an infinitesimal.

He too looked at the stars and must have felt small. He would have thought of the enormity of the promise that God gave him. “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Gen. 15:5). Abraham couldn’t number them. They just seem infinite. God also said his seed would be like the sand on the shore (Gen. 22:17). You can micro-reset just by picking up a handful of sand on a beach and look at the individual grains and think of this promise. I’m just like one of these little grains of sand. This one little grain. Seemingly infinitesimal among the seashore. Does God really need this one little insignificant grain? He doesn’t yet he does.

Even though we are small and insignificant, he has chosen each one of us to be part of this multitude to glorify his name. He knows every grain of sand. He knows every star. His understanding is infinite. This is what it says in Psalm 147:4,

“He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.” (TSK, of his understanding there is no number)

Abraham couldn’t number the stars, but God could. Not only could he number them, but he knows each by name. That’s how awesome our God is and that’s how humbling it is to think that he knows us each by name. His understanding is infinite and yet he knows the infinitesimal. 

In that same chapter of Genesis 18:17-19 God says, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do… for I know him.” Of course, God knew of him, he knows of everybody. This is different though, isn’t it? This is the type of knowledge you have when you really know somebody because you’ve spent so much time with them. Like a husband or wife, you just know how they are going to respond in certain situations. This is the intimate knowledge that God had with Abraham. It’s amazing to think about in this way. What is man that you are mindful of him? 

Here’s the amazing thing. When we contemplate our infinite God and how infinitesimal we are in comparison it brings us closer to him. It’s as if God has a handful of sand and he says, “yes I know that one and I know that one and I know that one…” He loves each one of us. Lord willing, we will, by the grace of God be part of that glorious multitude seen by John in Revelation 7:9 that no man could number, clothed in white, with palm branches in our hands crying out “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”

Conclusion

We now come to the time, that in the wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, he instituted for us to “do this in remembrance of him”. Maybe it’s a good time to meditate on the infinitesimal. Despite all the improbable circumstances, we live, and he has called us to the truth. It’s a good time to think about the brief moment in time our life occupies compared to the eternal life promised in Jesus. We can recalibrate, using this to continue in patience endurance, running the race set before us. We might even consider how small we are in comparison with our infinite God, yet he knows each of us and loves us. It’s a time to humble ourselves, to be thankful that our sins are forgiven, and that we can serve him. Brothers and sisters, it is time again for a micro-reset.