God In A Box

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Psalm 63:3
왜냐하면 당신의 사랑이 생명보다 낫다, 내 입술을 영광스럽게 하리라. 시편 63:3
Parce que votre amour est mieux que la vie, mes lèvres glorifierai vous. Psaume 63:3
Weil Ihre Liebe ist besser als das Leben, meine Lippen verherrlichen sie. Psalm 63:3
Perché il suo amore è migliore della vita, le mie labbra glorificherà voi. Il Salmo 63: 3
Até Porque o seu amor é melhor do que a vida, meus lábios Glorificarei. Salmo 63:3
Поскольку вашей любви лучше, чем жизнь, мои губы будут прославлять вы. Псалтирь 63: 3
Debido a que su amor es mejor que la vida, mis labios te alabarán. Salmos 63:3
Çünkü sevgisinden daha iyi yaşam, dudaklarımla yüceltsin olacak. Mezmur 63:3
あなたの愛があるよりよい生命、唇は神に栄光をささげます。 賛美歌63:3

This weekend Dan and I went to the Korean church in Stillwater. I was supposed to write a paper about a cultural experience that was out of my comfort zone for one of my classes...the thing about God is that He is so huge that he can even use a school assignment to reveal His sovereignty to us. Dan and I were the only two Caucasian people in the entire building. In fact, they were so shocked to see us there they had us stand up and introduce ourselves before the the pastor began his sermon. I had a lot of time to think during his explanation of Acts 1, considering I didn't understand a word that was coming out of his mouth. I think the reason that we hate stillness so much is that God usually takes advantage of those opportunities to reveal areas of our hearts that we would rather not see...the revelation I had in that 30 minute span was that I have limited God by making him an idea that was comfortable to me. I limited Him based on my shallow, American view of what I thought He should be. How naive do you have to be to think that God is a middle class Caucasian man with a white beard and a robe? That's how I've seen him my entire life. While I was sitting there listening to a whole room of people sing in a language I couldn't understand, I realized that their praises were just as sweet or sweeter to the Lord as anything that has ever been offered in an English worship service I've been too. I don't even know what they were singing, but I know it was blessing the Lord's spirit. It was really neat to just sit in a place where I knew God's presence was welcome...and that's the only thing I knew. I wasn't concerned about the words of the songs or getting the tune right, I was simply able to sit there and rest in the presence of the Lord while my brothers and sisters in Christ ushered Him in through their praises.

If you haven't read The Shack yet, you really really need to! It's probably the best book I've ever read. It's basically just a really sweet picture of how desperately the Lord desires an intimate relationship with us regardless of where we are in life. It was really hard for me to get used to at first, though, because God is depicted as an African American woman (not to give anything away, sorry). I never realized how limited my view of God was until I started reading that and my immediate reaction was "Yeah right, that's so weird." The point the author was trying to make was exactly what the Lord revealed to me this weekend, that we can't limit God based on what we think He should be. God isn't confined to same cultural, religious boundaries that we place on Him a lot of times. He is bigger than what we can comprehend, and by making Him something He's not, we limit the power He has through us. So I encourage you to ask the Lord to reveal to you areas where you have limited Him and not even known it. You might be surprised to find that you make Him a lot smaller than He really is...I know I was! Have a blessed week :)!