PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER……itty bitty living space!
// March 5th, 2008 // No Comments » // Perspectives
When God spoke to Moses about the boundaries of the promised land (Num. 34:1-12), He was giving more than simply physical barriers hedging them in. He gave a focus.
When God told Adam (notice I only say Adam, for Eve was not created until after this instruction was given) they were allowed anything in the Garden of Eden, except the fruit of the Tree of Life (Gen 2:16-17), He gave them more than simply a limitation on their eating habits. He gave them the choice of all other fruits.
When God instructed me not to date for this season of my life, He gave me more than a limitation on possible romantic pursuits. He gave me direction and He gave me discipline.
Why, when He is so adept at giving us what we need by cutting out what we shouldn’t have, by forbidding it, by bluntly and lovingly telling us to avoid it, why are we so quick to limit Him? He whose power is limitless and promises are ever-fruitful, He is the one we choose to put into a box by believing so half-heartedly in His will for our prosperity and salvation. He who sacrificed His one and only son so that we may have eternal life, He is the one we box and try to ship around the world in pamphlet form, hoping that someone will read and understand without the relationship we were sent to build.
Why, when He has no limitations on how much He loves us, how often He’ll pick us up, how drastic and dreadful a situation He will pull us out of in safety and in love, how mortal a wound He may heal; why do we doubt His passion for us by showing none for Him in return? This God of ours is greater than that. He deserves more than we can give, so why in the world do we give so much less than we can? Is it demoralizing to know that we can never live up to what He deserves? I don’t see how it could be; not when we’re saved by the grace of the blood spilled on Calvary. Not when Jesus lived and died for us. How could we not give everything? How could we possibly hold back and still live with ourselves, unashamed?
I’m going to draw the Disney parallel here: Aladdin’s genie had more or less all the power imaginable, with few exceptions. The notable exception concerns love. The genie had no control over a person’s true heart. This is similar to God in that God refuses to force us to love and adore Him. He gives us this choice, and how do we return the favor? We put Him in a crappy, busted up, tinny, tiny old lamp and rub it whenever we want Him to come out and grant one of our three wishes. With God, however, we don’t just get three wishes. If we’re lined up with His plan, we get all the wishes we can spit out.
That’s the key though. IF WE’RE IN LINE WITH HIS PLAN. With the Genie, we’re the master and he’s the slave. With God, He’s the master, and we’re the slave, but we’re bound to freedom. We’re bound to eternal freedom and eternal peace and eternal warm-fuzziness. What’s the genie bound by? Whichever bum picks up the lamp next, until some kind-hearted soul has the decency to set him free as one of their wishes.
Here’s my wish, God. I wish to set you free. I wish not to bind you up in a crappy old lamp. I wish not to bind you within four walls we call a church. I wish not to bind you to the social circles of Jesus-people. I wish to set you free to the world. To take your message to all the peasants and kings; to the markets and the prisons; to the airways and the highways. I long for your presence with me wherever I go, at all times, in all situations, in all conversations, in all the words I speak and the looks I give and the thoughts that traverse my brain. I wish to set you free from the prison we have put you in, so that you may reclaim your Kingdom.
Remember what happened when Aladdin set the genie free?
I’ll sum it up for you: fear, then comfort, then a goal, then trials, then trust, then victory.
I’m at the goal part. I’m looking forward to getting my teeth kicked in over the next few years, building that trust wherever I go, working towards the victory for Him.