Uncontainable
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.” Psalm 63:1-3
Two hours in church or synagogue, once a week – or twice a year. Ten minutes every morning. One hour at Bible study. Five minutes of prayer before bed. We compartmentalize God. We stick Him in containers with handwritten labels written with permanent ink. If we believe in and pursue Him at all. We get in the car and put Him in the glove compartment. We walk into our bedroom and stuff Him in our dresser drawer. We go into the closet and stick Him in a shoebox. We hold a party and leave Him in the kitchen cupboard. We even open our Bibles and squeeze Him into those fancy covers we got on sale at the Christian bookstore. We jam Him in corners of our hearts. We don’t want to give Him too much space in our hearts, nor in our conversations, if we dare to even say His name, nor free reign in our lives. We don’t want Him to infringe on our plans, dreams, wishes, hobbies, jobs, relationships, vacations, entertainment, on anything. There’s a time and place for Him, we convince ourselves. Surely He understands.
David the psalmist thirsted for God day and night with such longing He couldn’t get enough of God, and He couldn’t get enough of praising Him. He craved His love, to know Him, to be closer to Him. He longed for Him. He wrote psalms to Him. He danced naked before Him. There was nothing more exciting and satisfying to David than God. I know how David felt. When I stopped trying to stuff God in the compartments of my life, opened His Word, dove into the endless treasures within, opened my heart and became willing for His Spirit to teach, convict, and change me, and came to know Him personally, I have wanted more of God ever since. I never stop seeking Him. My love for Him grows every breath. I am not a religious woman. I am a Jewish woman broken by life and by my sin who has come to know her Savior and knows at last there is nothing greater than knowing, loving, serving, and worshiping God. The more I thirst for Him, the more He satisfies and the more of Him I desire. No container could ever hold God anyway, but still we rush through our lives trying to contain Him to certain times and areas if we consider Him at all. Now I don’t want to take a breath without Him, nor a step without being aware of His presence and learning to walk in His ways. Now I know God is uncontainable, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. ‘
Do you?