When you picture God, what does he look like? Is he old, with a long flowing white beard?  Do you picture him sitting on a great throne, scepter in hand, waiting for just the right moment to rain down lightening on his subjects? NO! That is not the God that I know. The God that I know and serve is a father. He watches out for his children. He shows them correction and discipline when they are off course. He loves them and he only wants the very best for them. In Matthew 7:9-12, Jesus is teaching and says, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

When you pray, what do you ask for? And when you ask, do you believe you will really receive it? Or do you just ask out of habit, hoping that a slim chance, the God sitting on the throne in heaven will hear you and maybe—maybe—maybe, care enough to answer you?

Recently, I have been praying about a very large and impossible situation. There is no way that I can make this situation better. I have absolutely no control over the outcome of this life and death struggle. But it seems like every morning, God speaks to my heart. He tells me to believe. He reminds me of the many miracles of the bible. He brings a song on the radio; he whispers to my heart. Believe…you are my child and I love you. Don’t give up hope. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” (Mark 11:23)

When Moses led the children out of Egypt, they came up against The Red Sea and behind them the Egyptian army was quickly advancing. They were trapped! But Moses did not give up hope and despair, instead he reached out his hands to God and God opened the waters of the Red Sea and allowed the children of Israel to pass through on dry ground! They did not pass through in mud and muck, struggling as the wheels of their wagons stuck, the Egyptian army baring down on them. They walked through easily, with giant walls of water towering above their heads. Do you feel like your struggle is above your head? Do you feel trapped, the army coming up behind you? Is your situation impossible?

Is anything really impossible for God? Is our God so small that we can put him inside a box to contain Him? Do we only give him the small tasks that we know he can do, like we would a little child? Then, we take care of the remaining large tasks with our own will, strength, and determination? I say NO! I will continue to bring my requests and my heart to the Lord each day. I will believe that he wants the best for me. I will believe that he has the power to take away all my fears and anxiety. I will believe that he loves me, even more than I love my own children. And I will have faith as I tell this mountain, massive and impenetrable, to move! My God does not fit inside a box!