Chapter four opens with a look at our religious environment. Priscilla asks us to evaluate this environment. Is it holding you back? Is it limiting your view of God? Do the people you associate with hold you back from worshiping God as you feel appropriate? “God is sometimes just too big for church people.” (p.38)
Rain. I enjoy a good rain storm. Curling up on the couch with a good book while the window is open- as it pours- is one of my favorite things to do. Like our Pastor, I am thrilled by the weather. Watching storm clouds roll across the sky excites me. I enjoy watching the rain, but not getting caught in it. I’m just weird, but I don’t like to be wet. At all! So Priscilla’s story of getting caught in the rain made my skin crawl! Yuck! LOL!
Spiritually, however, I want to learn to love being caught in the rain. I don’t want to pray for rain and when it happens, run home. “We pray with boldness that the cloak of complacency will be removed, that the windows of heaven will open and He will display His glory and power to us and through us. We anxiously await His wonders in our everyday living, but when His move ends up moving us, we aren’t too sure anymore. Running in the rain is a tad uncomfortable.” (p.41)
So like Priscilla, my prayer is, “Lord, let it rain, and give me the courage to stand under the heavens when it does. Cause me to be willing to go where You take me, even if the path is unfamiliar. Tear down any man-made religious walls that may keep me from seeing You fully. Forgive me for always running back home.” (p.42)
This chapter deals with our view of God in respect to what we’ve been taught. She warns us to be cautions of limiting our views based on a domination. “Each of us carries around a box that contains our views about God. These are not necessarily incorrect views. They’re simply the ones we’ve been compiling and gathering over time. Some of the things in our box have come from our traditions and upbringing, some from what our church teaches, some from what we’ve read in the Bible and experienced in life. The problem is not that we have a box. The problem is that we have the nerve to put a lid on it. We dare to shut God into our man-made, predetermined, limited notions about His nature and His ability.” (p.49)
Okay, I’ll admit that I have done that. In my early 20’s I worked at First Christian Church School (now known as Real Life Christian Academy) with teachers from all different religious backgrounds. I closed myself off to their religious ideas, fearful they would sway my opinion of God. I thought that my “baptist” way had all the right answers and their religions were way off base. How little did I know! While as I am always cautious to test what I learn from my friends who have different religious backgrounds by God’s word, I’m more open to their experiences with God then I was 20+ years ago. “One-in-a-millions aren’t confined to one church or domination. While they are fully committed to their church and denomination, they don’t turn up their noses at others. They know their box has something to gain from others who love the Lord just as they do, even if they’re a little different.” (pp. 50-51)
I don’t want to live my life fighting against what God is letting me experience just because it dosen’t line up with what I think I know of how God works. I’m learning as I plead with God to deliver me from my Egypt, with all it's tempting foods, that I have to be open to the ways He is delivering me. As God cleansed the palette of the Israelite they became resistant to what freedom required. “The balked at challenge. They seized up at the first sight of being stretched. God wasn’t staying in His box. And they weren’t really sure they wanted an experiential relationship with Him if He had more in mind for their deliverance than just the simple transaction of liberation for Egypt.” (p. 50) It’s my prayer that I won’t do the same.
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