I remember when I heard a certain talk show host say that she could never believe in a God who is jealous. I wasn't aware that we had the option of picking and choosing the attributes of our God, but that's what many of us do. We explain away the parts of God that our limited selves cannot accept. Wrath? Angry gods aren't fun. Jealousy? Possessive boyfriends are terrible, so imagine a possessive god! Sovereign? How can I accept a good God who allows suffering, even in the lives of good people?
So we reduce God to a nice, pocket-sized edition that meets our expectations, but never exceeds them. He's portable, easy to love, easy to accept, and rarely asks much of us. But there's a problem with this comfortable god of ours. What happens when we meet a situation that we can't handle? What happens when we try to introduce our miniature god to a problem that is bigger than we are? If I can't handle it, how can a god reduced to fit into my understanding handle it?
I don't know about you, but I need a God that I can't understand. I need a God whose ways are higher than mine. I need a God who gets angry at sin. I need a God who will pursue justice at any price, including the life of His Son. I need a God who is unlimited in resources and wisdom. I need an infinite God whose plan will take more than my lifetime to complete and an eternity to comprehend. I need a God whose glory is worth anything and everything that I have. I need a God who warrants sacrifice, and who never falls short of the investments I make into Him. I need a God who forces me to live supernaturally. Forget comfortable! I need Jesus!
(Yes, I am reading Radical by David Platt. Although I've been contemplating the content of this post for a long time, the truth of our radical God has been hitting me with growing force lately. Platt's exceptional book has been one of many factors that has increased my awareness of my need for the true God of the Bible.)
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3 comments:
I need to try and download that on our kindle ....I keep hearing bits and pieces from the book and it sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing Hannah:)
I love that book. Brian and I read it. We also did a Bible study that went through the book. We still have another week of the Bible study. On the books website is a bunch of cool stuff. I printed out the family worship guide and put it in a binder. We haven't started it but it has good stuff for the kids.
Brooke
My hubby and I hang at Barnes and Noble while the kids are at youth group. I picked up this book last week and started reading it. I'll continue this weekend! It is good. I also read a book on the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan and liked it very much as well.
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