| Some days ago, while reading The Daily Bread, I came upon a phrase by a theologian - "Trivilisation of God". This term struck me strongly. After seeking more understanding from the Holy Spirit, I became aware of the fact that it is a common act by many of us without we realising that it does not have God's approval. I am guilty of this act which is disrespectful to God. Let me share the understanding I gain from the Holy Spirit. As Christian, it is our responsibility to follow Christ in every way we can in our lives. We pray, read the bible, attend church and have fellowship with other Christians to help us grow spiritually. It is very important to know that God is our heavenly Father and that it is our duty to behave like His child. Unfortunately, while we learn to be close to God, we may have put ourselves on par with God and sometimes, even put ourselves above God. The bible taught us the divine nature of God. God is the creator of mankind and all good things on earth. God is all powerful; He is anything and everything; anywhere and everywhere He chooses to be. God is the same since the beginning and He does not change. (Mal 3:6) It is not that we have stopped believing in God's power or His magnificience. However, very often we tend to overlook the sense of awe and reverence for God and cut Him down to our size, reducing Him to our own dimension. Subconsciously, we tend to localise God to suit our lifestyle, our preferences and our behaviour system. This is a problem which is damaging to our spiritual life just like a malignant virus harming our body. We may ask : "Did I reduce God to my own dimension?" "Am I having this malignant virus in me?" This virus is invincible and intangible and can consume us spiritually without us noticing the damage it can do to our relationship with God. The extent of this virus infection vary from person to person because one's own dimension is not the same with another's. This virus is only detectable by the Holy Spirit. We will need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us diagnose the problem and overcome it. To me, this virus thrives spiritually in our senses (feelings), our minds and our hearts. The result is direct. It distorts or obstructs our ability to perceive and has a wrong influence on our belief system. In turn affects our decisions and actions which follow. By reducing God to our own dimension, we are actually putting a limitation to God's plan for us and God's work for us. This limitation we set is based on our human nature and human outlook - which is our wretched mind, our limited ability and the little wisdom we are having. When we pray for God's help or approval, it is common for us to tell God to make His reply according to the way we want it to be (don't we?). Somewhere in our hearts and mind, we have already decided (on God's behalf) the ways things should be done. We have actually come up with the actions for God to execute based on our own understanding of the circumstances we are in. We set up the scenario - a limited work space - for God, thus reducing God to our own dimension. In the meantime, God would have His reply for us but due to our preconceived mind, we are not prepared to accept anything except what we have named. In other words, we are being hindered by our self-centredness to receive and to follow God's will for us. Also, if we were to read God's word with our own dimension (& not with the Holy Spirit), we will surely misinterpret God's message for us. We will tend to read the bible verses out of text (to suit our circumstances, our thoughts...etc). Imagine in a Christian meeting, if each one has been reading the bible in their own dimension, what will the meeting be like? Doctrines and worship practices will differ; disagreements will be widespread. This is not what God wants to see. Col 2:8 tells us to be careful and not to be misled by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition (human thoughts) or worldliness. We have to restrain the tendency to reduce God into our own dimension. Here's an illustration: You have to put on a pair of under-sized shoes to walk or run while you do your chores. What will it be like? It does not matter if we remain in these shoes for just a little while or over a period of time, we can all imagine the pain and aching! Our feet are cramped or even bruised from the constriction, making walking difficult and running torturing. A normal 5-min walk nows requires much effort and feels like a mile. If we choose to remain in this pair of under-sized shoes, the shape of our feet will be contorted. The boones in the feet will be arched due to restriction of space. A classic example is the ancient chinese bound feet (stunted growth). The great discomfort in your feet is agonizing, making us irritable, short-tempered and unable to do good thinking because we are concentrating on the pain in our feet. Making mistakes, rash decisions, losing your temper...are foreseeable negative actions(sins). Our spiritual growth will also be stunted like the bound feet. Would you like to be forced into the under-sized shoes? In the like-manner, we should not try to squeeze God into our dimensions or try fit Him into what we think is best for ourselves. Unknowingly, we are the culprit who put up obstacles between God and ourselves. This is exactly the point to note. Surely it is also painful for God (in His Heart) to see us doing it the wrong way. During the same week while I was dwelling on this subject, I was having muscle constriction in my left chest. The constriction is such a pain. It is restricting my lifestyle, limiting my activities and disheartening for my spirit. If we liken God to the body and we the constricting muscle, we are giving pain to God (though not the physical pain which we experience) and hindering the activities (God's plan) which He wants to do for us. If we go through the way we share things with God as Father and His children, we may realise that at times, we switch roles with God. We seem to be telling God to do things our way and our way means according to our lifestyle, perferences and our behaviour. We forget our actual role(as a child of God) and act the Master - we play god. We have to consider the question seriously: Are we following God's will for us (God carries us) or are we trying to be master to God (We carry God)? It makes all the difference in the world to know who is being carried! When we play god, we actually idolize ourselves. We see things from our own dimension and make plans for ourselves but tell God to get it done. We decide the direction to take and want God to abide. In such instances, our heavenly Father becomes our servant which makes Him worst off than us. (We carry God) Deep down in our hearts, we know this is all wrong. We should be abiding in God's will for us. We should listen to God's command and follow His plan for us. Like a child, we should follow our Father wherever He wants us to go. (God carries us) Can we reduce God to our own dimension? The truth is God cannot be reduced or constricted by any means and therefore God is not even in the scenarios we have created for Him. It is only a make-belief on our part (in our mind). God knows our problems. God is like a traffic police on a highway, trying to redirect us back to the right route. God is waiting for us to realise what we have been trying to do (reducing Him to our own dimension) is wrong. He is all ready to help us get back on to the right path. Therefore, we just have to pause to do some soul-searching. Do not hesitate to ask God to help us look into our problem. Make the decision to follow God's will for each of us. God is faithful and compassionate, He will help us overcome. Psalms 119 : 33-35 Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep the Law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Amen. Irene NOTE: The way to live in the Spirit is to learn to see through the eyes of the Lord. Ask yourself questions like: 1. How would the Lord handle this if He is in my shoes? 2. What is the Lord's reaction to this? |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| "Direct my footsteps according to your Word; let no sin rule over me." - Psalms 119: 133 |
| To Inspirational section |
 |