Boxing Up and Labeling God

Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/God,-Greatness-Of#sthash.pFbN0ry8.dpuf

 

"Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 12:6

Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/God,-Greatness-Of#sthash.pFbN0ry8.dpuf

Does God live "great in our midst?" Too often He lives in a nice labeled box, neat and organized. Put away for a season and pulled out when we'd like to decorate our life with Him. Afraid of what He will tell us, reveal to us about ourselves, what He will ask us to change, He is put away out of fear. Yet in this fear we do not live fully. We know of God, but we do not truly know Him.

God doesn't do what is predictable to the human heart. His ways are not our ways! God does not do the things that would be easy for us to understand. He does what is holy and righteous. God sent His son Jesus, who was not the idea of a messiah most people had, to save human souls. God sent Moses to free His people, He made Jonah be swallowed into the belly of a whale. A small shepherd boy defeated a giant and later became a great king. An angel announced to Mary that she would give birth to the world's savior. Jesus performed miracles and healed. Jesus rose again into heaven after He was dead for three days. 

 

This same God who allowed these things to happen is put into a modern mundane and boring box. He is watered down and put into a formula. He is put and contained in the box of the sinful human heart and mind. Yet He desires that we allow Him to dwell in our midst. We must ask and we must be willing to do the work that it takes to live a victorious life with God. We can ask Him to heal us, we can ask Him to do works in our lives even when we don't understand how they could come to pass. God doesn't fit into any normal formula. He will do things that seem strange to us, things others may not understand. God isn't legalistic or bound to any human's box. He is the one who created the heavens and the earth, the one who with a sweep of His hand set all the stars in place.

We can trust God day by day. Each morning we can trust that He is moving in our hearts and minds with freedom and that His will will come to pass in our lives. When God seems foreign, strange, and what He asks of us requires blind faith and not knowing the outcome---may we remember this is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the God of Noah, Job, Ruth, David and Moses. 

 

God will never lead us to a place in which His glory is not revealed. We miss out on this by keeping God in the self made box we've put Him in. The one where He is predictable to us, but the one where we prevent ourselves from seeing His righteousness and holiness. This is the God who has mercy on us, pardons our sins, and has created a heavenly kingdom that awaits us. Jesus tells us that if we believe, we will see the glory of God. May we take Him at His word and not be afraid to believe with abandon so that we may see Him fully.

 

Prayer: God, may I not be afraid to see you fully. Remove the scales from my eyes and heart so that I may see your miracles. I can come boldly to you in prayer for miracles, healing and holiness in my life. Help me to not be afraid of what you will reveal but embrace your peace and life giving presence. Amen.

"Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”  John 11:40-42

"And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose." Acts 9:34

 

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book..." John 20:30