aren’t particularly worthy of God’s attention or the church’s. That is, they believe that most of their lives - at home, school, work, volunteering, civic responsibilities, etc. The bad news is that when you talk with most of our people, they have a hard time imagining that what they spend most of their time doing in the world “counts” as a call.

This theological category is incredibly important to us and, as a rule, we are committed to teaching and preaching a vibrant theology of vocation. These convictions come from our theology of vocation - the belief that all Christians are called ( vocatio) by virtue of their Baptism to participate in God’s work to care for all creation. Preachers - and church professionals in general - are likely to talk about God at work in the world and the invitation each of us has to participate in that work. Because I have a hunch that there would be a noticeable difference in the answers. I’m also interested in how the folks in your congregation would answer them if you asked them the same questions. I’m honestly curious about how you would answer these questions.

As we begin to believe that, we will begin to see Him do immeasurably more in each of our lives.Where is God? Where, that is, do you expect to meet God, to experience God, to participate with God in God’s ongoing work? Really. The all-powerful Creator of the universe loves us intimately. Our finite minds can’t begin to understand all of the good things God has for us ( 1 Corinthians 2:9). Who remember your ways” ( Isaiah 64:4-5). You come to the help of those who gladly do right, Who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. If God isn’t living up to our expectations, maybe it’s time to change our expectations of Him. We can’t box God in, but we can box ourselves out. But it does mean we probably won’t be part of the solution, and we probably won’t recognize God’s handiwork when it happens. Does this mean God can’t change our circumstances? Of course not. And we expect as much from Him.īut when we turn our attention to how big our problem is instead of how big our God is, we begin to think things like: When we view God as the all-powerful creator of the universe, we realize there are no limits on what He can do in our lives. How much we see God do in our lives directly correlates to our view of who God is. Two big barriers to seeing the immeasurably more God can and wants to do in our lives is our perspective on our situation and our perspective of who God is. We limit our ability to partner with God, to see Him do miracles, and to experience how big He really is. What we limit when we put constraints on our relationship is not God’s ability but ours. Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,Īnd the hills in a balance?” ( Isaiah 40:10-12). Or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, “See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,

The prophet Isaiah recounts God’s magnitude, writing: Like the boa constrictor, God is bigger than we realize! Just like the boa constrictor, we limit our experience of God when we constrain our relationship with God to an hour on Sunday or 20 minutes in the morning. But when it becomes a household pet, its growth is stunted based on the size of the aquarium it lives in. A boa constrictor in the wild has no limitations impeding its growth. So why does the boa constrictor grow 5 to 7 feet larger in the wild than in captivity? Boa constrictors grow in proportion to their container. But in captivity, a boa constrictor on average will only grow between 6 and 8 feet long. In North America, many people have boa constrictors as pet snakes. The largest boa constrictor recorded was 18 feet. What Constraints Do to Your Relationship with GodĪ boa constrictor can grow to about 13 feet on average. The fact is our faith - or lack thereof - can block the immeasurably more God wants to do in our lives. And if we want to experience something more, we have to start to expect more. Sometimes, our relationship with God can settle into a routine.

So if God can and is willing to do immeasurably more, why does it seem like our lives don’t reflect that reality? Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:20 that God can do immeasurably more than we could even ask or imagine.

God of box