Devotion: God Is Bigger Than Your Box

Are you one of those people who think God can do anything he wants to do?  Well, there is a little more to it than that.  First, we know that an omnipotent, all-powerful, and sovereign God has the ability to do whatever he wants.  But have you considered that anything an omnipotent, all-powerful, and sovereign God does, he does because he chooses to do it?  While his sovereignty has never come into question, we have to understand that God chooses to do all of the things that he does.  We have to realize that there can be no limits to God’s abilities other than those he places or imposes upon himself.  We see that “God obligated himself to himself,” when he made his promise to Abraham (Hebrews 6:13).  According to scripture, because there was no one greater by which he could swear, “God swore by himself, obligating himself to himself.”

It is important for us not to confuse God’s ability to do with God’s choice to do or not do.  Choice implies the ability or power to choose one whatever in preference to another whatever.  God has chosen to be the god that he is by defining his characteristics and not his abilities.  Scripture tells us that “there will be absolutely no injustice, immorality, unrighteousness, or wrong doings with him” (II Chronicles 19:7).  God has chosen not to make these characteristics part of the distinctive qualities that makes God who he is.  By defining his characteristics, God has placed restrictions on his abilities; self-imposed restrictions upon his abilities and himself.  Again, this has nothing to do with God’s abilities, for his is fully capable of doing anything he so chooses.  This is why it is important that we understand the difference and not confuse his abilities with his choices.

On the other hand, are you one of those people who have placed God in a box?  Do you limit his abilities?  Most of us do so without realizing that we do this very thing, put God in a box.  But in order to see this, what we have to do is to get our mind right.  We have to get our thinking right.  We are told to “be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind that we may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).  The Message (MSG Bible) puts it this way, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.”  By not being conformed, we are talking about not behaving or thinking as the world thinks, which lends itself to social acceptability, conventional thinking, and traditional ways.  By not being conformed, we are talking about letting go of the past teachings and opening your mind to other possibilities, truly thinking outside of the box.

Maybe it is time to take the limits off God by taking the limits off our thinking.  Hopefully, this message will do just that.  If this message is a blessing to you, please share it so that others may be blessed by it as well.

Enjoy your blessings - KW