In the Box, or Out of the Box?
Reading: 2 Corinthians 4, Psalm 139, Joshua 1
It’s a bad day. Maybe a bad month, or a bad year. Where are you, God? We look around and we see the horrors and the heartbreak around us, and we are asking where is God in all of this? We question what kind of God would allow this? In all the chaos, we get lost in the feelings of doubt, fear, anger, bitterness, hate, and regret. We start challenging what we know, and take it out on the ones closest to us. Through all of the tears and the tantrums, we are so blinded by the fog of chaos that we don’t even see that God has always been right there, and had never left. The kind of God He is- well, He is the One who gives us free will, but holds us accountable at the same time because He loves us. The hurt and the suffering and sacrifice we experience is not Him just standing by quietly. No, this is all the work of darkness trying to pull us away from the God who will hold us as we fall apart yet hold accountable those who live in the darkness.
From the beginning of creation, God demonstrated His power and authority by speaking life and beauty into existence. Throughout the ages of time He has proven time and again that no matter what darkness comes into our lives, His goodness always wins. When we experience tragedy and loss, it’s a dark cloud that brings heaviness and heartbreak. The feelings of rage and disappointment and sadness can overtake all the good things inside, and all we want is for someone to be held accountable. We want someone to suffer as we are or worse. Sometimes we want to take matters into our own hands and take care of it ourselves because we think that’s what must be done. But who are we to determine someone’s fate? The darkness in our own hearts may seem small compared to another one’s heart based on actions and experience… but everyone has a darkness that builds up in our hearts that can take over the goodness of what God has in store for us. Not a single one of us deserves grace or a second chance. There are some that choose worse paths than others, yet we so easily forget that we also have chosen darkness in other ways. We may not get to see the consequence of someone else’s mistakes and choices, but God deals with each and every heart. He looks into our deepest desires and He knows the truth about who we are, and He waits for us to choose life over darkness and truth over lies.
When we ask where God is in the darkness around us, we must look within ourselves at our own hearts first. In the pain of unexpected loss we must still bring the pain and suffering to God and ask Him what to do with it. Do not be afraid to ask Him to show you how to handle the feelings and the thoughts. You might find yourself angry at God for letting something happen, but did He really just stand by? The darkness inside of others sometimes will manifest itself into such a tragedy that it affects others who may already be in a good place, yet the one responsible has allowed the darkness to lead their heart. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:2, “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”
The hardest part of a life with God is to stay close to Him, even when it hurts. As we deal with our own heart amidst the dark things around us, others are watching to see how faithful we are in the truth we claim to believe. What good things can come of heartbreak and sadness? How can God work through that and show us His goodness when He already allowed something horrible to take place?
Look at it this way: do we put God in a box, or do we keep Him out? Are we even capable of putting Him away like something we don’t need right now? We try. We tend to lean in when we need Him, but then pull back when we think we don’t. We steer away when it’s getting too real, or when He’s too close for comfort and getting into our business, but then when something happens we ask Him where He was. We like to be in control, and we like to decide when He can and cannot do something for us. All throughout the Psalms of David, he praises God and His power, and sometimes questions Him. When things are hard and death is coming for him, David cries out to God for help. When he makes mistakes and his heart is grieving, he cries out to God in sorrow, yet still acknowledges God and His power. He asks God to deliver him from those who are hunting him, he praises God for training him and preparing him, and he remembers that God has always known him.
If we look at Psalm 139, he acknowledges that God has always known and understood him. Read this as if it is your own heart’s cry, because we have all been there and we feel it. No matter where we are, He is right there. When we run away, He is there. When we are struggling with the deepest and darkest things, He is extending His arms to us and is ready to hold us and walk with us through it. As we are fighting of the demons around us, He is leading the charge and taking them out. We may experience loss through the battle, but the war is already won with Him at the forefront and we just have to keep on fighting to be part of the winning side.
Psalm 139:9-10 says, “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
When life has you down, and you feel like you are drowning, His hand will hold you. He is our lifeline, and holds the power to save and to heal. He has the grace to forgive and life to offer; but we must walk in this freedom by trusting Him with the hard stuff. So do we keep Him in the box? If we are to trust Him to lead, won’t we need to have Him out of the box?
The truth is, God cannot be contained. We can try to put Him in the box, but He won’t stay there. He is everywhere. Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” In the book of Joshua we see victory as God led the way through what seemed to be impossible things. He will do the same for you, but you have to keep Him out of the box and see that He is right there, ready to lead you and walk with you, ready to battle the darkness with truth at the forefront. Those feelings you have deep down that are hard to overcome, talk to Him about it. Tell Him how hard it is, and ask Him to take them and do something with them. He will make possible the things that seem impossible. He will hold accountable the ones who need to be held accountable… that responsibility is not on you. He will lead you as you follow, and He will be right there to catch you when you fall. You will begin to see the goodness of God through the darkness, and you will be able to share the good with those around you as a testimony of the power of God- OUTSIDE of the box.
–Adrianne Michele, Author
Nocturnal Flame Ministries
