Sometimes in our efforts to “work” on behalf of God, we forget that the bottom line is not “our efforts.” It’s those efforts that always seem to put us in a place of calculating what will happen as a result of what we are attempting to do. Now, mind you, more often than not those efforts come from a right perspective and a right heart… a true desire to serve the Lord. But in the process we often “put God in a box.” It’s at that moment that we have not only put Him in a box, but put Him in a very small box in which He has no room to move.
At this moment in time I am going through a very difficult challenge and I know the answer is to follow Paul’s advice and remember five very key words of wisdom…
Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God…
As I search for the answers to my situation, I have to remember that by putting God in “my box” I have automatically restricted Him and prevented Him entering into my challenge in a way I never looked for Him to choose. Quite the contrary, my past experience always causes me to limit God’s response to my life. Instead of looking for God in some particular way that is within “my box,” I need to just “look for Him.” If He is my focus and not my “preconceived” notions of how I expect Him to come, then I will free Him to come when it pleases Him and in a way I totally unexpected.
I should know better because many times the Lord has surprised me by breaking out of my box and tossing my preconceived notions about Him up in the air and replacing them with something new. And it’s those times that should remind me that the only way I can let God out of my box is by staying in constant contact with Him; especially in those times when all is going well. And in those time when I do, I find myself walking in a state of expectancy, looking for Him to break into my life in a new and unexpected way… all of a sudden when it is His good pleasure.
Take it from me! Stop putting God in a box and allow Him into your life on His terms and in His time. Don’t look for Him to come in any certain way… just look for Him to come and continue to be amazed!