Posts Tagged: God’s infinity
“Spiritually Unexplored Country”
“Much of life is spiritually unexplored country.” (Twenty-Four Hours a Day: The Little Black Book, excerpt from today’s reading, July 3, 2019)
When I was a young boy growing up on a farm I southern Ohio, I didn’t have playmates or a lot of activities with which to occupy myself. So, I took up exploring. Exploring meant my mom fixing me a couple of mayonnaise sandwiches and a mason jar filled with grape Kool-aid. I would put them in an old, worn-out purse that my mom had kept. I would also usually include a New Testament and a small notebook and pencil to record maps and all my discoveries.
I gradually extended my range of exploring to the edge of our farm, and eventually, way beyond our farm. Later, when I told my mom how far I had gone as a little guy, she was a bit mortified—if you can be a bit mortified—by how far I had traveled in my peregrinations. I suspect that Columbus and other explorers had to wait until their mothers were dead before they set out.
As with all explorers, I have sometimes gotten lost. Sometimes, I have not treated my traveling companions with kindness and respect. Sometimes, I have not treated the lands or people I’ve discovered in a caring way. Sometimes, I’ve been abusive.
But I continue to explore. I value my fellow explorers much more now, and I treat the places, things, and people I discover with more kindness and respect.
God is infinite. That means that there are no boundaries to God. So, I plan to keep on exploring forever.
Crank out the mayonnaise, grape Kool-Aid, and my wife’s old purse. Today, I’m going exploring!
“The Uncontainable God”
NAS 2 Chronicles 6:18 “But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built.”
This is Solomon’s prayer of dedication at the completion of the temple in Jerusalem. God’s glory falls only after Solomon finishes his prayer, acknowledging that God cannot be contained in any building (2 Chronicles 7:1). In the somewhat parallel telling of story in 1 Kings 8, Solomon only mentions God’s uncontainableness after God’s glory has filled the temple (8:27). As with all profound truths, there are several ways in which the story should and indeed, must, be told in order to convey the truth.
But in both versions of the story, one truth is front and center: God is not containable. The most elaborate, ornate, expensive, well-built building in the world cannot contain the LORD God.
God is uncontainable. No space, no person, no collection of persons, no institution, no doctrine, no political party, can contain God. God is uncontainable. The technical, theological, Latin-based word for this aspect of God is “infinity.” God is infinite—i.e., God has no limits.
And yet, I am forever battling the urge to treat God as if God were nuclear waste. I am always trying to contain God.
Why? The answer is simple: I want to be God. The first step in being God is containing God.
But, of course, the True God is not containable. So . . .
I pretend that God is containable, and that I am God! See how simple it is!
O God—and no, I am not talking to myself—please deliver me from my attempts at containing you. Help me to live in the truth of your uncontainableness today. (According to my spell checker, “uncontainableness” is not a word. My spell checker doesn’t even have a suggestion as to what word would work here. I will add the word to the dictionary.)
There! The red line under the word has been removed. Oh, Uncontainable God, help me not simply to add the word “uncontainable” to my lexicon, but to add it also to the heart’s lexicon of daily obedience. Help me to live in the reality of your uncontainableness, and not only to live in that reality, but to be swept away by that reality.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- “Even a Sliver of Light” April 9, 2024“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version) I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but […]
- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
- “The Power of Encouragement—Even for Old People” March 10, 2024“But encourage each other every day while it is ‘today.’ Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you.” (Hebrews 3:13, New Century Version) Yesterday, I was walking at a nearby park. There was a large group of young people some of whom were running while other young people […]
- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
- “The Limits of Non-Judgmentalism” February 24, 2024“Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Matt. 7:2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, English Standard Version) This morning, in my virtual 12-step meeting, we discussed the topic of judgmentalism. There were many wise […]
- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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