If you are like me, you like definition. Blackest black and whitest white. Obviously right and blatantly wrong. This away and that way. After all, if there are formulas to define the motion of a 3-point shot, there must be formulas for everything, right?
Recently, I haven't been able to find those formulas. And, boy, have I been searching hard! Things just haven't been "plug-n-chug" like they often were in the past. My life doesn't seem to be patterned after anything here in this world anymore. And let me be honest for a second--that scares me to death sometimes.
We so often ask God to make something beautiful out of us. But we constrain Him. Terribly. Naturally, our minds are a little bit smaller than His. Our creativity a little duller. Our wisdom a tad more shallow. We have defined our lives by our own human capacities and imaginations.
We have given the Creator of the universe a set of stencils and asked Him to make a masterpiece.
We constrain His pen with simple frames. But no great piece of art ever comes from tracing stencils. Artists need freedom to make masterpieces.
Glancing around, it is clear that God's most beautiful work is unable to be defined by formulas or patterns. Just take the clouds for example. We marvel over their uniqueness. No stencils there. Have you ever seen two trees that were exactly the same? No stencils there. What about leaves? Nope. What about the motion of a hummingbird through the air? Ha.
Limits, limits, limits. I am continually boxing God in. Counting Him out. Ignoring His presence. Fearing the unknown. Trusting the world above HIm. Discounting His wisdom. Distinguishing His flame. Refusing His embrace. Rejecting His invitation to dance.
If we truly want to live the life Jesus wants for us--if we truly want to experience all that He has planned for us, we are going to have to trash the stencils and trust the Artist. If only our lives displayed His splendor and beauty like His breathtaking creation. I want people to look at my life as they look at the mountains and say, "Wow, there must be a god."
Lord, the pen is already in Your hand. You are the Author of life. Apart from You, there is none. Every second is a pen stroke. Each breath is intentionally breathed. Teach us to seek You before any human wisdom and truly live lives that are set apart. Your glory can certainly never be captured within the bounds of a silly plastic pattern. Remind us that your ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours. Grow bigger in our eyes everyday. In Jesus's name.
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