Shrinking God

Articles

Larry Walker
02/16/16 - Christian Focus

Shrinking God

Living in this world trains us humans, slowly but very surely, to look only at the material world – things we can touch, see, taste, handle. Our senses are dull to higher things, to spiritual things that transcend our fleshly experience. Even though we all know – and even rely on – spiritual principles every day [e.g., will, choice, love, reason], these don’t seem “real” to us in the same sense that physical things are real to us.

Even for Christians, we often live our lives blind to the power of spiritual realities. We hope for heaven, but we trust in the earth. We teach that the God we believe in as all powerful, but we act as if he has no power at all. Some even brashly teach that back in Bible times he intervened and controlled things in the world, but he doesn’t do that any more. We are told that he is pretty much “hands-off” – he gave us his Word and we are on our own.

But what does his Word say? Well, what about “him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think”? What about, “if any man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father and I will come and make our abode with him”? What about “you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”? There are hundreds more expressions in his Word to reassure us that he is active, powerful, and present in our lives.

So many Christians have “shrunk” God down till he is irrelevant for their daily lives. They will not give themselves to feeding their souls, because they can’t see the benefit from it, the reality of their spiritual connection with HIM. They struggle with all kinds of worldly problems, sometimes with desperate attempts to “work themselves out of it”. Some fall into despair, depression, self-destructive behavior or even suicide. And all of this when the great God of heaven is ready to protect and lift and comfort and even give victory!

Think great and high and holy things of God! Trust that his power is beyond what you can imagine.

Larry Walker

July 2010