IOW--Big, Big God

"If we could understand everything God does, then He'd have to be a small god--small enough to fit in our little minds."

~ Randy Alcorn ~

It is a dilemma.

On the one hand, I want my God to be BIG. Big enough to handle any of the major and minor catastrophes that litter my days. Limitless to cope with my questions and my doubts. A heart huge enough to love me at my most unloveable. A mind vast enough to fathom the deepest and darkest mysteries. Yes, I want God BIG.

But...I also want Him small. Small enough that I can think He is controllable. Small enough that I am not afraid when I seek to manage my daily stuff on my own. Compact enough to carry around in my pocket and pull out like a magic genie anytime I really need him. Limited, so that my finite brain and heart can understand and love Him.

It is a dilemma. But it is a dilemma of my own making. My lack of trust is what makes me think I need to control Him. My acceptance of the cultural creed "Just Do It" says I need Him compact so I can do it myself. My buying the lie that I can understand everything, makes me limit what He can do in my life. It's not really a dilemma, it is a sin. I am attempting to make an image of God that I can control--otherwise known as an idol. And we know what Scripture says about idols:

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4-6

Back in my University days, my chapel group undertook a study of J.B. Phillips, Your God is Too Small. In his introduction, Phillips states, "If it is true that there is Someone in charge of the whole mystery of life and death, we can hardly expect to escape a sense of futility and frustration until we begin to see what He is like and what His purposes are." This quote, and this book, challenged me to not put "God in a box" or make Him just my "resident policeman." I was/am so guilty of making God small enough to control and therefore missing the vastness of His power and glory. I am grateful to that University study for challenging my "small" God. But, I must say, in my post-University journey I have learned to question this book as well. [For instance, there is no way I would say if it is true, because my experience shows me that God is true over and over.] But more pointedly, the quote seems to imply that once we begin to learn what God is like, the sense of futility and frustration abate. For me, it is quite the opposite, the more I know of God the more I know that there is still so much to know about Him. Which brings me full circle to the dilemma. Do I want to be challenged by a big God, and constantly reminded of the smallness of my ability to understand? Or do I want to be in control?

Today, I choose to relinquish control to my Big, Big God. And, by His grace, I will face the choice again tomorrow and everyday that follows until He takes me home and I see how BIG he really is. I pray that each day I choose more of Him and less of me. What is your choice today?

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

Today's In Other's Words is hosted by Loni at Finding Joy in the Morning. Please join us there for other meditations on this quote.