A Box of God

Still day 10:
Matt 8:1-17

Before starting the blog I was stumbling through this chapter of my life with a heavy heart.  I would run into people who would say things like "you just don't seem like yourself."  And in truth, I wasn't and may not be yet.  Sometimes the "Days of Our Lives",  much like the soap opera, just become too much.  I was in and out of prayerfulness but fully engaged in worry and anxiety.  Not surprisingly, the conviction to read the bible has lightened the burden.

I keep going back to the question:  What keeps me from Christ?  For a non-believer the answer is easy.  For a believer you must first get to the realization that you do keep yourself from Christ.  Over the past several days I have learned that it is many things.  Everything from my rebelliousness to the distracting squirrels.

After reading Matthew 8:1-17 I am reminded yet again how I limit God in my life.  I keep Him in a pristine God box and expect Him to work within my preset perimeters.  I lose sight that God is God whether I believe Him or not (much less believe IN Him).  I pray specific prayers and when He doesn't grant relief to my burdens like some genie in a bottle, I whine and complain and feel sorry for myself.  I beg Him to use me and grow me and when it starts to hurt I scream "UNCLE!".

The application in my bible reads:
"We must be careful not to become so set in our religious habits that we expect God to work only in specified ways.  Don't limit God by your mind-set and lack of faith."  Hebrews 11:6 sums it up best:   We will never have faith that exceeds the God we perceive.

  I'm throwing the box away, no matter how much it hurts.