Little Boxes
Sometimes the Lord finds it necessary in His Word to remind His people of who He is, and I think He does this because we forget. I don’t mean that we somehow develop a mild case of amnesia per se, but I think we allow our knowledge of God to be compartmentalized; we store it away in case we need it somewhere down the road. But I don’t believe that this is how God intends our knowledge of Him to be used…
We know that He parted the Red Sea—amazing! Good to know. We know that He delivered Daniel in the lion’s den—superb! Wow, He’s cool… But that’s where it sits sometimes…a bunch of fascinating bits of information nestled in little boxes in our heart and mind, and we pull them out and gaze at their splendor periodically, then breathe a contented sigh and put them back.
And often we try to meet our own needs this way: when we get overwhelmed, we search for the little box of God’s comfort, open the lid, dwell there for a little while and when we feel better, we put the cover back on and return it to its place. When we are fearful, we rummage until we find the pretty box of His peace, relish in its radiance and then, again, we return it to its place.
When God said, “Be still, and know that I am God…” in Psalm 46, I’m not sure that He meant, “Visit one of the little boxes you have Me in, securely stored away in your heart and mind.” Take a look at Isaiah 40: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.”
God is so gigantic that it is actually IMPOSSIBLE for Him or the knowledge of Him to live in one of our little boxes—He doesn’t fit! “‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
And getting our needs met from our little boxes is also IMPOSSIBLE; instead, we must go to Him, our Source: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Today, let’s burn our little boxes—they’re useless. Let’s give the Creator of the universe some room to walk in our life. Let’s not compartmentalize our knowledge of God, but let’s live in it—let’s live in His Presence allowing Him to breathe strength and power into our being, and let’s put our hope in Him as He gives us the ability to walk, run, and soar.
Katie Botello
FBC Aztec Member