Out of the Box.

I never really understood what people meant when they said we ought never to put God in a box.

God in a box? What in the world does that mean?

I suppose, each of us have our own ideas about God. A person, a feeling, a human construct, an emotional crutch or a friend, a father, a real being. And we spin out of control when our reality doesn't fit our idea of who we thought God to be.

I am learning, that that is putting God in a box.

It is using what we see and what we know about God to explain our reality. When our boxed-up idea of this woolly being high up there doesn't mesh with our expectations, we then become jaded, bitter, sunken in disbelief.

I am learning, that maybe...

... He doesn't come in a box at all!

At the risk of sounding sacreligious, maybe, He comes in the form of wrapping paper. Yes, that's right.

Wrapping paper covers gifts in all shapes and sizes. You just never know what you're going to get- there's no telling. But one thing remains certain- the wrapping paper holds a gift, a gift of value and love.

Sometimes, our circumstances can be wrapped in tears, disappointment and pain. They can be received with broken hands. But we forget, that in life, gifts don't just come wrapped in victories, triumphs and medals. God uses all kinds of circumstances, all types of wrapping paper, to wrap our gifts and blessings.

If we judge our circumstances and our challenges based solely on what we see on the outside, surely we would refuse or discard a package wrapped in sorrow. But when we place unfailing trust in a God who is a giver of Good gifts, we then allow ourselves the privilege to open up the most invaluable gift we may ever receive, a package of pure gold, of knowing God more intimately.

I find I learn the most in my afflictions. Don't you? God is most real, His lessons most stark and precious in my times of suffering through anorexia, through loss and now, through a pelvic fracture.

I couldn't sleep last night because my heart was heavy about many things. And then I realised it was because I had stuffed a Big God into a too-small, too-tight box, snug enough to fit into my head.

But when I released Him like a Jack-in-the-Box, and saw how He sprang up to fill my entire world, His bigness amazed me. I learnt new lessons, lessons which would not fit into that little box of mine.

So take heed when they tell you to think out of the box. Because that's not where God lives at all.

... psst. He's in wrapping paper!! :)


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