The LORD Reigns

"The LORD is king!  He is robed in majesty.

Indeed, the LORD is robed in majesty

and armed with strength.

The world stands firm and cannot be shaken."

Psalm 93:1 NLT

Who is king of the world?  It is not Leonardo Dicaprio's character Jack from the movie Titanic as he so famously proclaimed while perched on the bow of the iconic ship.  It's not the president of the most powerful country, or the head of the United Nations.  God is the one who reigns over all things.  

As king of the world, the Lord reigns over all my struggles, governs the entire earth, ruling over the details of the world.  Since He reigns in such majesty, how does this affect me and the way I live my life?

Nothing.  I love watching the Veggie Tales, not just because they are entertaining and make me laugh, but there is a deeper reason to pay attention to "Larry's Silly Songs" and Veggie versions of familiar Bible stories like Rack, Shack, and Benny (Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego thrown in the fiery furnace), Dave and the Giant Pickle (David and Goliath), and Josh and the Big Wall (The battle of Jericho).  I enjoy these programs created for children because I find there a powerful truth about God that resonates deeply.

One of these songs is the infectious, "God is Bigger than the Boogie-Man."  The lyrics are catchy and the tune gets stuck in my head, but the thing that sends me back for more is the message: God is bigger than anything that scares me.  While I may no longer fear the mysterious monster lurking under the bed at night, there are things that send my heart to racing.  Cancer.  Terrorism.  Financial disaster.  Sudden tragedies.  The what if's twist my stomach into a knot.  Reminding myself that He is more than able to handle my problems, protect me through any disaster, and preserve my life sets my heart at ease.

Moses faced an impossible situation as he led the Israelites on their 40-years of wandering through the desert.  In response to the complaints of the masses over discontent with the manna God had provided, God instructed Moses to proclaim to the people that He would give them enough meat to eat for an entire month, gorging them into learning a lesson from their faithlessness and ingratitude.  Thinking practically and thus limiting God, Moses questioned how He would provide such a quantity of meat.  God simply replied, "Is the LORD's arm too short?" (Numbers 11:4-23)  

Nothing is too much for God; He is more than able to handle any problem I face.

Everything.  It's not that I doubt that God is in complete control, but I often forget that fact.  Especially in the face of a crisis, a difficult dilemma, or a danger that threatens.  When I'm sitting in the doctor's office receiving the news every human dreads, or suddenly facing single motherhood after a dozen years of marriage, or attacked by a gang of thugs as I walk through my neighborhood, it's easy to feel like my life is spiraling out of control and that I have nowhere to turn.

God, however, is firmly planted on the throne.  He is not pacing the floor, wringing His hands with the thought of trying to handle what I face.  His majesty is absolute, and He knows exactly how to deliver me from or through the sickness while supplying all the strength and peace I need to endure, to serve as my husband and the Father of my children, to dispatch a battalion of angel warriors in my defense.

Everything is under God's command, He is never worried about anything that occurs in this world.

Power.  What kind of power does it take to generate something from nothing?  Or to create such a wide variety of species like what we see in the world?  Or to take what was meant for evil and somehow use it for my good?  The power of God is beyond compare and cannot be fathomed (1 Chronicles 29:11).

With such a God as this at the controls, I can expect great things from Him.  I can pray big prayers and look for mighty acts.  The power of God can change a stubborn, hardened heart, can enable me to do what I can't picture myself doing, can empower me to thrive even though conditions are not conducive for prosperity.  God can do it.  And He will if I will only believe (Mark 11:24).

The power of God is beyond my ability to comprehend but not greater than my capacity to believe.

When looking around at the chaotic state of the world, I could wonder, Sheesh, whose in charge around here, anyway?  Even though it may look like a freight train barreling down the track out of control, God is King.  He is firmly planted on the throne so that nothing is too much for Him, everything is part of His domain, and the power He wields is beyond compare.  With such a King as this, I can rest easy, knowing that all things are in good hands.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust the sovereign Lord.

When do I doubt God's ability to do the impossible?

How do I pray puny prayers?       

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?