How Big is Your God?

Lately I’ve been thinking a good deal about our perception of God. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about the way we make God into our image (or perhaps make a god in our image). Now, none of us would ever admit to making God in our image. However, our perception about the greatness of God is usually limited to our own abilities. In other words we limit our picture of God to what we can or cannot do ourselves.

Let me illustrate – I frequent an Internet forum that has the stated purpose of seeing revival break out. However, instead of talking about revival, most posts deal with the dangers of deception. Posters obsess with who is deceived and who is okay in the church world. Continual warnings are posted about various deceptions.

Why the obsession with deception? I believe it has to do with people’s perspective of God. They do not believe that God is greater than any deception. Therefore, deception must be feared. They doubt God’s ability to reveal deception; therefore they must take matters in their own hands. They have to be very careful lest some deception from another person “gets on them”.

Somehow we inherently believe that world or deceptions are greater than the God in us. We are afraid that the “world” will taint us. If we really understood the nature of God, we would expect the God in us to “taint” the world. We would expect the God in us to expose deception. Light is greater than darkness, life is greater than death.

I have a friend who talked with her church leaders about a desire to penetrate society. She was quickly warned about the dangers of associating with the world. She was told that it takes a mature Christian to withstand the allure of the world. Huh? The God in my friend is the same God that dwells in mature Christians. God is able to keep her fully.

The problem with the advice my friend received was that it minimized God. I believe that subconsciously, her leaders had a small view of God. Their statements reveal that they hold to a view that the world is more powerful than God.

How big is your God? Is He capable of handling the things you face? Is He capable of getting you back on track if you get lost? Do you expect Him to affect those around you in a powerful way?