Jumpin Jimmy
So, we’re coming home from church this morning, and the highway goes down to two lanes. Fair enough they are doing construction. We are hurrying to go see my sweet daddy so our minds were far down the road. All of a sudden a tiny little mouse darts out from the left and barely makes it underneath a truck. Then traffic slows down and he continues to speed through the lane, under another car and hops up in the air several times and then safely lands on the right side of the road. Having a bit of a wild imagination, I wondered what new sneakers he was wearing. One of the boys commented that he was a very athletic mouse and then my wise hubby pointed out that in 105 heat index weather, the pavement was probably super hot causing this little guy to jump as he raced across the freeway. I was so happy for him and had never seen a jumping, flying mouse before. He was very courageous!
Hubby went back to maneuvering thru the traffic to get us to our destination. The boys went back to doing their various “keep occupied” in the van activities. My mind went to wondering how much this mouse was of value to God. Hmm? He certainly was of value to me! You could create a whole YouTube channel around that little guy. He was incredible. Would God stop up traffic down the road to make sure this little rodent got to safety? Was the plan set in motion long before the mouse encountered these hurdles? Did God know this little mouse would delight my heart for hours on this hot, Father’s day? Is this why my husband turns on music after church on the way home so I don’t ask him questions about animals? Or theology? Lol. Just how far in advance does God plan our lives and trials? Maybe only pastors or Bible college students wonder about things like this, I don’t know.
God has attributes that are communicable and in-communicable. Things we as humans can emulate and copy (Communicable) and then things that nothing and no one on earth can replicate – like omnipresence or omniscience.
GOD IS SPIRIT
He is not limited to one place or time. The centurion soldier shows us this when he requests a favor from Jesus – “heal my servant who is very ill”, and in that same hour the servant gets healed even though Jesus never treks back to the sick bed where he is praying for healing. That’s amazing! That is why we can pray for someone in Istanbul or Fargo or Croatia and God’s presence shows up in mighty ways – God is not limited by geographical boundaries. I remember once praying for a missionary in Argentina. I woke up in the middle of the night in grueling agony, praying for some guy in a truck and bombs were going off all around him. The next day I called and asked what was going on. At first I was told everything was calm but then later they called back and related a story about a guy being in the back of a truck while bombs were going off all around him. We cannot see around the world but God can. Who are we but jumping little mice that God would condescend to us and make us partners in His kingdom? Incomprehensible.
I asked the family at supper tonight, “why doesn’t God have a body?” The oldest boy said, “that’s God’s business.” Fair enough. We talked about what we would do if we were invisible and how many people we could secretly bless. I kept thinking of this big theological concept I’ve known for years but tonight the answer seemed so basic as I talked with my kids – GOD DOES have a body – us! We are literally His hands and His feet. He lives and dwells within us as we yield to Him. We can pray, we can be used to further God’s causes. I love that God does not call us just to co-exist like we were frogs or robots or something. He calls us to co-labor, smelly, weary, fragile, human beings -us. We are powerful because of the One we partner with! Power team – with purpose, not random animals on the highway of life.
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:24
Those who worship God do not do so merely in a building but worship wherever God is, where God dwells. Jesus went to a tree, a river, a lake and many other places to proclaim His Father. Places where He showed up – became church! Minus a mortgage payment, there was still some praise goin on. Because God is Spirit He is not limited to a building. We limit God when we believe that is the only place where people can get saved, healed or reconciled. What if every building we went in, every tree we stood under, every lake we swam in – became places of His presence, places of praise?
We have been given attributes from God so we can more fully know Him and His ways. We have been invited into His family and ministry. The Father’s heart is that we would know Him, fellowship with Him and demonstrate that to other’s who do not know Him. Yet.
Thank you Lord for Your love and care for us. Thank you that we are not just little mice in some big cosmic plan but participants in your life and continually reminded of Your greatness. Show us how to co-labor with you. Amen.
RenaeRoche2018