Monday, September 25, 2006

Think Outside the Box

Don’t you just hate the business clichés that have become standard vernacular in American society today? Terms like “synergy”, “leverage”, “gravitas”, “critical mass”, “mission critical”, and “800 pound gorilla”. Why don’t we just say what we really mean? When did we get away from firing people and start “downsizing” or “rightsizing” them? When did we begin to “multi-task” and stop being just plain busy? Too often, we try to sugarcoat our language to make us appear better than we are instead of just giving someone the “straight dope”.

But there is one cliché that I do like – “think outside the box”. This regularly overused phase tells us that sometimes we need to try to think of unusual or unorthodox solutions to problems…to be innovative and not confine our thinking to the standard, ordinary, comfortable, safe methods that we have always considered.

The question I have to ask myself is “do I put God in a box?” Do I try to limit his power and effectiveness by my small, trivial, human understanding? All too often growing up I heard that we need not bother God with the small stuff in life…after all; He has much bigger things to worry about, right? Things like world peace, famine, natural disasters, and the like. One day, a dear friend and mentor told a small group that he was having difficulty changing a tire and he asked, jokingly, “is it wrong to pray for God to help with a couple of lug nuts?” This really got me thinking. Why would it be wrong to ask God to help out in what seems trivial matters. Do we believe that God is so small that He can’t handle all of the global concerns and my minor problems too? By saying that, I put God in my own little box. One where He can handle only what I think He can. By saying I and my problems are too insignificant in God’s eyes trivializes and diminishes His sacrifice of His only Son for me!

What would happen if we turned ALL of our problems over to God? How free would we be? How powerful could we be for His kingdom? How selfless and outward focused would we be? How much more joy would God have when we allow Him to show His power and glory through us and in our lives?

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

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