By Cyndi
Do we have God in a box? Are there certain ways we expect God to move? Do we put limits on how, what, and when God can do something?
When Jesus healed people, He sometimes touched them, spoke words to them; other times He required that they wash themselves. He used a variety of different means and methods to heal. There was never a formula.
Same thing with God in the Old Testament. There were a multitude of ways God communicated with His people and even different ways He devised plans for the Israelites to come into the Promised Land. His manner of doing things may change, however, His character never did and never will.
So whether we’re looking to God for healing or anything else, if we desire to be open to Him, we have to trust in His character — His nature — not the means by which He may make it come to pass. Personally, I think God at times intentionally does things “out of the box” with unconventional means simply to reveal our trust, or lack thereof, in Him.
God is a loving, trustworthy God — that is His character. However, because many of us have experienced untrustworthy parents and/or authorities, we tend to have trust issues with God (as well as others). This is a normal transference.
It’s hard to have open-hearted relationships when there are trust issues, and usually these need to be worked out through counseling or prayer ministry. And when there is a lack of trust, we are inclined to have trouble being out of control. Control issues are exemplified in things such as: we always want to do the driving, we want to have events at our house not someone else’s, we want to know what’s going to happen before arriving at an event, and so on.
So a part of being open to God requires us to release control to Him. We have to let go. We have to trust. And when we do — it’s truly amazing to see what God does. Many times it will be out of the box and totally unexpected, but knowing the character of God, we know it will always be good.