I’m sure we’ve heard the saying, “Don’t put God in a box.” Don’t put limitations on God, let God be God, and don’t try to limit His capabilities
I get caught up in planning my days out. And if anything other than my initial plans occur, I get frustrated.
I have to remember that God is still about bringing glory to Himself. And often that means His mighty plan is going to be bigger than anything I could ever comprehend.
God is not limited to our likes and dislikes, our timeframe, of our personal goals. God does not fit into our little boxes. He loves us but sometimes His plan may look different than ours.
God tells us in Proverbs 3:5 to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
The Lord constantly speaks to us and gives us His direction. It’s never God not speaking to us, it’s that we are not hearing.
Many people are too busy pleading with God about our problems but there’s an issue with their receivers.
I have a habit of always being in a rush to get the things done on my to-do list and I tune everything out (including God). People tells me “I saw you the other day, and said hi but you ignored me.” I wasn’t ignoring them, I just blocked everything around me out.
It is easy to do this when God is speaking to us. If we’re not listening for His voice we won’t hear it. Have you ever been going somewhere and you get that check in your spirit to not go that way? And then hear about an accident that happened on that same road you decided not to take. That’s God protecting you. That’s God speaking to you.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.”
It is in stillness, not busyness, that we tune our spiritual ears to hear His voice. God always speaks to us in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12), but it’s often drowned out by all the turmoil of our daily lives.
We think that God won’t speak to us outside the church. But that’s putting Him a box.
It’s easy to mistake God’s voice for our own thoughts. God speaks to us in our spirits, not in words but in thoughts and impressions. God will not typically say “You do this or that,” but He will impress on our spirit to do something and our spirit says, “I think I should do…” Therefore, we often miss the leading of the Lord, thinking it’s our own thoughts.
Every one of us has done something stupid and said afterward, “I knew that was the wrong thing to do.” I once drove 4 hours to see a specialist at a doctor’s office, the day before I knew I should have called and canceled the appointment but I followed logic and drove the 4 hours ad I was pulling into the parking lot my phone started ringing. I picked it up and it was the doctor’s office calling to say the doctor had an emergency and they had to cancel. I immediately knew I should have listened to the check in my spirit.
Psalm 37:4 says,
“Also delight yourself the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
This verse is often interpreted to mean that God will give you whatever you want and has been used to justify selfishness, greed, and even adultery. But it doesn’t mean that at all. It means that when seeking Him, He will put His wants or desires into your heart.
God promises to take care of us, if we follow and obey Him. So many times we want to put Him in one of our little boxes. But that’s not how God works. Don’t limit God. Trust that check in your spirit. If we want Him to take care of us, we have to fix our receivers.
From Pity to Praise 