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Outside The Box

Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. – 2 Samuel 7:5-6

In my days working in the local church there was a little ditty we sang with the kids that went,

The church is not a building;
The church is not a steeple,
The church is not a resting place,
The church is a people

How true this is. We human beings have this nasty habit of putting things in boxes both literally and figuratively. Perhaps it helps us, in some way, to keep a sense of order in our lives. Home is the box where our family is, the office is the box where our work is, the church is the box where God is. However, when we attempt to put God in a box we discover some very important things. First and foremost is that, try as we might, we have absolutely no control over God. He cannot be contained. Let’s admit it, there may be times where we’d really rather he just stayed inside the church building. Secondly, God’s overwhelming presence consumes our lives and all the little boxes in it... and he wants it that way. He is in all and through all. He moves amongst his people, the church. He’s moving in your life. Right now.

Now we can take this truth two ways. We could consider God the ultimate police officer with a camera trained on every part of our lives ready to catch us doing wrong so he can mete out his punishment. Or we can recognize that God is so fully involved in our lives that there is nowhere we can go that his love, mercy, grace, providence and, yes, discipline can’t reach. God’s power and presence can’t be contained and I, for one, am so very happy about that. After all, who wants a God that you or I or any person or group of people could put in a box? So, today set God free to be in all the places he already is!

Prayer
Lord, help me with each new day to recognize that you are present everywhere. You are with me at home, at work, at play and in my joys, my sorrows and even in my selfish tantrums. May I continue to learn how to live in your constant presence. Amen.