Cannot be Contained

"But who is able to build a temple for him,

since the heavens,

even the highest heavens,

cannot contain him?

Who then am I to build a temple for him,

except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?"

2 Chronicles 2:6

It burns out of control, fed by the dry grasses and timber, licked up like so much kindling for a campfire.  Before anyone realized it, the fire was threatening thousands of homes, sending many to run for shelter as they grabbed what little they could save from the impending inferno.  Soon, firefighters arrive from all over the region, working together to try to contain what seems impossible to bring under their control.  They work night and day suppressing flames, building fire lines, putting out flames and hot spots, all in an effort to stop the out-of-control destruction.

As difficult as it is to try to contain a wildfire known for changing directions without warning, jumping roads or rivers and gobbling up massive areas of vegetation, it's even more ridiculous to think about containing God.  It seems a bit silly to build a dwelling place for One who cannot be measured, who is above all things, and is greater than all of creation.  How could such magnificence be contained?  

Yet, I try to do so without even realizing it.

Plan.  20-year plan.  Retirement plan.  Career track.  Humans love to make plans.  As much as I desire to know what I can expect in the next few years, only God knows what He has in store for me.  He is the One who holds the blueprint for my life and since His ways are better and more complex than what I could ever hope to generate, I must trust Him to bring about His purposes in the details of my life without expecting to understand the entire scope of His plan (Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 40:5, Isaiah 55:8-9).

Still, I love to try to figure out how God is going to work out a certain situation, or through what channels He will provide, or when He will come through.  In these ways, I limit God's plan to what I can understand or agree with.  Instead, it is better if I let God be God, giving Him free reign to do as He sees fit.

I attempt to contain my magnificent God when I limit His plan in my expectations of Him.

Presence.  For treasure hunters, there are many places to hunt for valuables.  Some of the most unusual include in a hollowed-out shingle on the roof of an old house, in a false bottom fashioned at the base of a livestock feed bin, between sheets of shelf paper in a kitchen cabinet or inside of a bicycle tire.

While I don't personally look for such fortune hidden in such surprising places, it does remind me of a characteristic of God.  There is nowhere I can go where He cannot be found.  While I wouldn't expect to find Him in a seedy motel, a strip club, or on a dark street corner where drug deals regularly take place, He is there.  Darkness is as light to Him (Psalm 139:7-12).

Thus, there is no place that is off-limits to God, no hurt in my heart which He does not see, no shame which drives Him away.  

I attempt to contain my magnificent God when I assume I can hide or conceal my heart from Him.

Power.  A change of heart.  Cancer cells shrinking.  The sun standing still in the sky.  There are some things I don't expect to see.  After living in the world for nearly 50 years, I know how things usually work and while I may imagine fantastical happenings, I don't really think I will see them come to pass.  I like to think I have my feet firmly rooted in reality.

Unfortunately for me, God does not work within the limits of my definition of reality.  He is free to accomplish whatever He desires; winning over the heart of an atheist, healing the terminally ill or bringing about that which defies the laws of nature.  God's power is unlimited.

Why, then, do I expect so little from Him?  Instead of asking for healing I settle for what man's inferior efforts can supply.  In the place of tapping into the power He's given me to forgive I harbor a grudge and grow angry and resentful, trying to mask the root of bitterness with my own efforts toward civility.  While I could allow His compassion to flow through me to the unlovable, I opt to avoid their difficult personalities in an effort to shield my life from discomfort. 

I attempt to contain my magnificent God when I bind His power with the bands of rational reality.

In the same way that it seems ridiculous to build a building that could contain God, I often limit His magnificence without even knowing it.  I restrict His plan for me to what makes sense to my human mind or by what I feel comfortable with.  Even more silly are my efforts to hide my self, thoughts or heart from God.  Finally, I end up crippling the Lord's work in my life when I label some acts as impossible or off-limits to Him.  In these ways I attempt to restrain a God that cannot be contained.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can stop trying to put God in the neat little box I have constructed out of ignorance and fear.

When do I expect very little from God?

How do I limit God's power in my life?