Playing God

Just a few months ago, history was made as the mini-series “The Bible” was aired to record numbers of viewers.  Soon after, the actor who portrayed Jesus was invited to speak to a group of Christian leaders at the National Religious Broadcaster Convention.   They asked him how he felt to play such an important role.  His answer?  “How can you play the Son of God?  You can’t.  What I had the privilege of playing was simply the words of Christ and taking the journey of the Scriptures.”

It was a very humble answer from an actor who understands that he is just that... an actor.   Nobody can properly play Jesus.  So why do so many try in their own lives?  They worry... stress... try to control things... and in so many other ways attempt to be Lord.  Deuteronomy 4:35 tells us that “the Lord is God and there is no other.”   Find yourself trying to be God over your own life?  I’ve got good news.  You don’t have to be.  In fact, you can’t be.  Let God be God... and spend all of that energy praising Him for Who He is and what He does daily for you. 

The God Container

“But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!” - King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6:18

A little boy was playing in the sand on the seashore. He dug a large pit in the ground and began to scoop water from the ocean into the freshly opened hole. He did this dozens of times before an elderly man approached him and asked “What are you trying to do by going back and forth from the ocean and pouring water into your pit?” The little boy said very enthusiastically, “Sir, can’t you see? I’m emptying the ocean!”

When we read this story we want to dismiss it as the naïve thoughts of a young mind. We all know that emptying the ocean into a small hole is impossible... that the majestic sea can’t be contained in one comparatively tiny area. Yet many of us try to do that with God. We attempt to take His majesty and contain it in a box the size of our problem. 2 Chronicles 6 tells us that even the highest heavens can’t hold God. He is everywhere. Big enough to handle what hurts and close enough to hear the quietest desperate prayer. Resist the urge to think of God in finite constraints.... and praise Him that He is everywhere at one time... ready to help us as the loving Father that He is.