Month: July 2016

Little box, big God

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I like to read. I read a lot of different things. One day I was reading a book. A book that many disdain as “literary trash.” The book was about a person. The author of the book told the story of the person with numerous incredible stories and many preposterous claims. Quite frankly it was hard to believe. Let me just give you some examples: “he never grows faint or weary1,” “his greatness no one can fathom2,” and even “there is no limit to his understanding.1.” Yeah, really hard to believe.

But that’s not all. After almost losing me less than halfway through the book, I ran across even more statements that could only be attributable to monumental hyperbole. Statements like “the heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you3,”, “the number of his years is unsearchable4,” and finally “he performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted5!” Really! I like fantasy, but this was ridiculous.

Of course if you are even a standard run-of-the-mill Christian, you already know who I am talking about. We have all heard about how big God is and how high “above” us he is. For the Bible exclaims “how unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!6” After all, God is infinite. That is in effect what these claims tell us. He has no limits. He knows no bounds. None. Zero. Zilch. And we believe it … except when we don’t. Actually, that is real the problem with most of our Christian life. We believe in God except when we forget. We trust in Jesus except when we doubt. We are ready to lay down our lives except when we cling to this world. We put God in a box. We sweep him under the rug. We hide him in the closet. Check your attitude, you’ll see what I mean. How many times have you thought

  • my problems are too bigcrate
  • that illness is incurable
  • my sins are too great
  • the enemies are too strong
  • my weaknesses are too many
  • …

You are there. So am I. The answer is simple. Painfully simple. Take God out of the box. Let him be God. You see, all those preposterous claims are true. You can’t put God in a box.  His power is unlimited. His knowledge is immeasurable. His wisdom is inestimable. His mercy is inexhaustible. His grace is never-ending. His love is unbounded. His goodness is limitless. His faithfulness is everlasting. He just doesn’t fit!

3. Isaiah 40:28 (HCSB)
1. Psalm 145:3 (NIV)
2. 1 Kings 8:27 (NIV)
4. Job 36:26 (ESV)
5. Job 5:9 (NIV)
6. Romans 11:33 (HCSB)

This entry was posted in Inspiration.