I’ve recently realized that I’ve put God in a cage. I’ve put handcuffs on Him, only allowing Him to be a fraction of the all-powerful being He truly is. But God is starting to unlock the chains, and woah is he shaking my world.
For a long time, I reduced God to a thought. I’d let that thought walk across the center-stage of my mind on pretty rare occasions, but I usually pushed Him behind the curtains when His spotlight revealed parts of my life I knew I should feel guilty about, or brought forward questions I didn’t understand. It’s easy to push Him aside. And since my life is pretty good without Him, why go through the pain of letting Him in?
Well one day, in freshman year of high school, I realized that this was just such a lie. The life I’d been living was only a sliver of what I could have if I let God in. I learned this after meeting the most joy-filled Jesus follower I’d ever met (shoutout to Jen Tan!), who invited me to a bible study that changed my life. Finally I wanted to get to know Jesus myself, so I let Him out of his box. I let my prayer life become more than a minute-long morning prayer, a meal-time blessing, and bed-time rhyme. I let my time with Him become more than an hour-long church service once a week. And though it was difficult, I let His word become more than a never-touched book on my bedside table, and I began reading it everyday. I started to live like I actually believed in the God who created everything in this life and determines everything about my life to come. I no longer devoted my life to my own success, to being liked, not even to being happy. I devoted everything to the Lord, and in return I was completely, soul-level satisfied.
It’s actually unbelievable how much life changed when I let Him in. I’d heard about what love felt like, but I’d never experienced an uncontrollable smile inching up my cheeks at the simple thought of someone – let alone the GOD OF THE WHOLE DANG UNIVERSE – loving me now and forever. I’d had moments of rest before, but I’d never known true, infallible peace in the midst of a never-stopping world. And I’d always been a pretty nice person, but I’d never known how it felt to live fully invested in other people, without ever running out of love and energy to give. He’d become my purpose in life, the reason I had good days and the reason I smiled on hard ones. It felt magical.
So that was just the first time I opened the cage I kept for God. The second time happened just recently, and I owe it all to the people going on the World Race with me (WHOOP WHOOP). I could probably write a book on how amazing they are, but I’ll summarize them like this: they are a daily text asking for ways I can be prayed for, a family of encouragers anytime I’m struggling, a 45 minute phone call with a person across the country, who I haven’t even met yet. They can also be described through memes and mozzarella stick debates and completely hilarious conversations. Yeah, they’re pretty great.
Since I’ve met them, I’ve discovered that I limit God’s incredible powers even more than I’d thought. Even with Him at the center of my life, I’d been blocking Him from giving me some fantastical gifts. And that’s probably why I blocked them out, like so many of us do – we see them as fantasy. Hearing God speak? Nope, wouldn’t happen to me. Seeing a sick person healed completely, just through the power of prayer? Yeah right. Seeing visions and experiencing miracles and speaking in crazy languages out of nowhere? PSH! That’s crazy talk.
But there God goes again, challenging everything I know and making everything better in the process. He has put 45 people in my life who’ve experienced all of the above and more. They talk about God in a way I’ve never heard before – like they actually believe He can do anything, like they see Him in every moment of their life and seek Him all the more. Prayer is the air in their lungs, Jesus is the pep in their step, the Bible is the story of their lives, and God is the fire in their soul. Their faith could move mountains, and that’s exactly what God does through them.
So I knew these people would change my life, but I thought it’d be in our 9 months of mission-work together. Well SURPRISE, my life is transformed before we’ve even left, before I’ve even MET most of them (except Noelle Parker, who has straight up become my best friend in a matter of weeks). I have begun praying BOLD prayers, and seeing God answer them. I’ve begun listening for His voice, and I’ve actually heard Him call to me. I’ve tangibly felt the Holy Spirit, and had gut feelings telling me exactly what God wants me to do. I’ve even decided to go on a fast from all things “secular” (movies, music, and other activities that don’t involve God) and have replaced them with things that strengthen my relationship with the Lord. I just don’t think I can put into words how good He is, and how in every extra moment I spend with Him, he gets even better. He is capable of so much more than I ever imagined. And instead of writing miracles off as fantasy, I’ve begun to accept them to be real. After all, if I’m going to believe in God, why would I believe in one who doesn’t even do anything cool? The God of the Bible has promised AWESOME miracles, so I’ve decided to believe in them. And since I have, I’ve started to see them happen in real life. He is who He says He is.
So here’s my hope for you. I hope that you would evaluate the box you’ve put God in. Are you letting Him in, with all his floods of love, forgiveness, peace, and joy, or are you pushing Him to the outskirts of your life? If you are, why? And even if He is at the center, do you believe He is the all-powerful God of miracles, of gifts beyond your imagination, who wants an intimate relationship with YOU?
“Now to Him who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
Loving you close,
Claire
