Boxes or Swirls

One of my favorite things about being in an airplane thousands of feet in the air, is looking out the window. I have always been intrigued by the way things look from up above.

I love to see the "big picture" it reminds me of how small I am.

It also reminds me of how things can appear so differently, depending on your perspective.

About a month ago, I was flying back from Wisconsin.

I was looking out the window as we flew over a city.

I noticed that we as humans put everything in perfectly shaped patches and squares.

Everything is measured so accurately with lines and expected patterns. The freeways and the streets all intersect at foreseeable times. Even the grass fields are purposely cut off at designated areas. Everything is controlled with the human mindset of parallel lines and boxes.

And then we flew over a river... something humans had no control over.

Its pattern was wild and unpredictable. There were beautiful swirls and squiggles.

There was no rhyme or reason to any of it.

With all of the human tools and reasoning in the world, the pattern of that river will never make logical sense to us.

As I was comparing our workmanship to Gods, I realized this was a picture He had been painting for me.

We as humans have spent our lives trying to put Him into boxes of our understanding and reasoning.

Why? Because we are more comfortable with Him there.

We squeeze Him into places He isn't meant to fit into and then wonder why our relationship with Him is dull and lifeless.

We long for Him to romance us with beauty and mystery... but then we get scared because we can't wrap our minds around it.

And so we try to find reasons and answers for everything.

We shove Him into spaces He will simply never fit.

And little by little, we create a world without mountains and rivers.

And although the flatland is boring, we prefer it because it makes sense to us.

Because we can draw lines around it and live in the comfort of our circles and squares.

Seeing this was a huge reminder to me that the Lord desires more for us.

That is why He takes us to places we don't understand.

Sometimes it requires patience on our end.

Sometimes getting us there is the most confusing part.

We don't understand the twists and the turns of His plan.

In our realm of understanding we go from point A to point B.

But God is not confined by our numbers and our systematic thinking.

And we wouldn't be ready for what He has for us if we walked in straight lines.

Every corner we turn is preparing us for something.

He works outside the realm of our understanding to grow our faith and to teach us to trust.

Because His ways are not our ways.

He wants to take us to the unfathomable, intangible places and show us the splendor of His glory.

The only problem is... we are afraid.

So we have to ask ourselves this question ... what is scarier?

Following God outside the realm of my understanding.

Or following a God who fits inside a box that I created.

I think we all know the answer to that one.

Lets be bold. Lets follow Him into the unknown.

It may seem risky... but that is where our faith comes in.

Boxes or swirls. What will you chose?