Dash of Sass: What Gifts Might God Bring You if You Took Him Out of the Box?

Quote of the Day:

“Unfortunately for us, we often allow our ability to see God to be limited by the size and shape of our ‘box.’  We become complacent in our spiritual walk because He seems to be doing the same old stuff He has always done.  But God is predictable in His character, not in His actions. God is a God of endless creativity and reserves the right to show up in ways in which we would least expect Him.” ~Kelly Johnson

The Single Woman Says:

I am hopelessly addicted to the TV show, “The Voice.” I tried not to be, but the creativity of the show, the sheer talent of the contestants, and the fun dynamic of the judges instantly hooked me from season one. During the show’s second season, one of my very favorite contestants was Jamar Rogers. He had an incredible testimony of the power of love and healing and restoration, and his mom, Danielle, was frequently featured on the show with him. Watching the two of them was like watching pure sunshine, so I tweeted about it one day. You can imagine my surprise when I got a tweet back from Danielle and learned that not only was she a big fan of The Single Woman, she was also living practically in my own backyard in Nashville! We became instant friends. This past weekend, I was blessed to travel with Danielle, her daughter Michelle, and her 13-month-old granddaughter, SashaMichelle, to Knoxville to see Jamar in concert. Not only was I blown away by the show, I also had a blast hanging with these three dynamic ladies and was particularly tickled by feisty little SashaMichelle, who looks like she just wandered off the label of a Gerber baby food jar. One of SashaMichelle’s favorite things to do is watch YouTube videos of her Uncle Jamar from Danielle’s smartphone. She gets so excited to see him on the screen, she dances, sways, bobs her head, and even kisses the phone in delight. She knows that the miniature person singing to her from the magic of a smartphone is her Uncle Jamar, and recognizes him instantly. BUT…since Jamar is based in LA and is on the road so much, she rarely gets to see him in person…so a funny thing happened when she saw him, live and in person, in Knoxville. She didn’t know who he was! She was so accustomed to “Uncle Jamar” being on the tiny little screen of the smartphone, she didn’t recognize him when she had him right in front of her, live and in the flesh! Much to all of our dismay, she closed her eyes, turned her cheek sassily, even ran in the opposite direction every time Jamar would try to hug her or kiss her or pick her up. Was it because she doesn’t love her Uncle Jamar? NO! It was because SashaMichelle had grown so accustomed to putting him in a little familiar box, she didn’t recognize him when he appeared to her in a much more real, dynamic, tangible and personal way.

It made me think: How often do we do this with God?

I think sometimes we grow so complacent in our spiritual walk, we put God in a safe little box of our expectations instead of welcoming Him into our lives, live and in person, to pick us up, to love on us, to blow our minds with the sheer passion and intimacy of His affection for us. We’re afraid to allow ourselves to believe that He genuinely wants to bring us the things our hearts long for. We expect so little from Him when He wants to give us so much. We put Him in a box when He really longs to be in our lives. He doesn’t want to be in your life as a nice little daily scripture sent to you from your smartphone’s “Bible app,” I believe He wants to show up on the stage of your life and rock your world with the mind-blowing intensity of His plans for you. The only question is, will you keep Him in the box because you’re so afraid of how your life might change if you invite Him to show up in person? Or will you toss your safe little ideas about what the presence of God is supposed to look like and feel like and allow Him to show up and show out in your life in ways that rival the excitement and wildness and thrill of even the most epic concert?

In case you’re wondering, eventually SashaMichelle did recognize her Uncle Jamar and ran to him with outstretched arms…and of course her earlier reticence to him was forgiven in an instant. Much like God is awaiting with outstretched arms for you to run to Him. There are so many blessings and dreams and amazing things He wants to give you, if only you will surrender your ideas of Him for the reality of Him. If you don’t believe me, just ask SashaMichelle, who I’m sure (if she could talk) would tell you…as much as she adores the image of her Uncle Jamar on a telephone screen, there’s nothing on this earth quite like the Real Thing.