How big is God?? Is he as big as me? (or maybe as small as me) Is he as tall as brother Mathis? Or as wide as . . . ? [Just kidding. You know I’m not going to finish that sentence, and keep my job] What if we said that God was the size of this church building? That’s pretty big isn’t it?
We all know that it’s silly to try and limit God to a size. So, why is it that so many of us try to limit God when it comes to other things? It’s because your God is too small!!
I. God Isn’t Confined to a Building
A. Two ropes walk into a restaurant to get something to eat . The waiter leans over to address the first rope and asks, "Are you one of them ropes?"
"Why yes," quavers the rope.
"We don’t serve ropes here," growls the waiter, grabbing the rope, twirling him around his head, and throwing him out the door.
The second rope decides that he had best disguise himself, so he ruffles his threads and twists his two ends together.
Glaring, the waiter looks at the second rope and asks, "You one of them ropes?"
"No!" was the indignant reply. "I’m a frayed knot!"
B. First of all, God’s not the size of the church building, right? So why do we try to limit him to it? We often feel that God is only at the church building. We seem to think that he’s here when we’re here for church, and then when we leave he waives good-bye. I guess he sleeps here on one of these pews.
We’ll say things like, “You can’t do that at church” as though it would be o.k. to do it somewhere else, because God’s not really there to see it. We come to church and put on a disguise, much like the rope. Then we take off that mask once we leave and live a totally different life. We think that as long as we act right in church, then we’ll be o.k. because God will think that’s how we act all the time. That’s NOT Christianity. That’s having a God that is too small.
C. Acts 5:3,4 - We all know the story of Ananias and Sapphira. They intentionally attempted to deceive God, and those in the church. For some reason they thought that God only knew what went on inside the church. But, as we read here, that’s not how it was.
Your God is too small if he’s only as big as the church building.
II. God Will Take Care of You
A. Secondly, your God is too small if you are worried about the future, and what it may hold for you.
One of the biggest concerns every month is making ends meet. You know, you’ve got to pay all the bills, and buy groceries, and buy gas, and then hope that there’s enough left over for any unforeseen expenses.
And what about health? We may worry about our health, and how long it’s going to hold up, or maybe when we’re going to be totally well.
B. Our English word worry is equivalent to the Greek word merimnao. It is a combination of two words: merizo, meaning “to divide,” and nous, meaning “mind.” Worry literally means “to divide the mind.” In a way it means that we are double-minded. James warns us about this in James 1:8, “a double-minded man, [is] unstable in all he does.”
C. On August 14, 1989, Time reported the sad story of a man from East Detroit who died of fear. He had taken a number of fur-trapping expeditions over the years and had been bitten by his share of ticks. Then he heard about Lyme disease, which is carried by deer ticks. He became obsessed with the fear that he had been bitten in the past by a tick with the disease and that he had passed the disease to his wife.
Doctors tested him and assured him he didn’t have Lyme disease and that, even if he did, the disease was virtually impossible to transmit to his wife. But the man didn’t believe the doctors. Paranoid, because of the disease, the man killed his wife and then himself.
The police found the man’s mailbox jammed with material describing Lyme disease and a slip confirming a doctor’s appointment for yet another Lyme-disease test.
Worry can actually distort a person’s sense of reality. It can consume a person’s energy and thoughts.
D. When I’m really worried about something, it drives me crazy. I usually can’t sleep, because my stomach is in knots. And that usually ends up making things a lot worse, because not only do I have something to do the next day that I may be worried about, but I’m also exhausted from tossing and turning all night from worrying about it. Worry is such a useless habit. It never changes anything, except for the worse. When we worry, we’re not trusting God. We’re not giving God the chance to take care of us. Again, we’re confining God, making him smaller than he is, because we think he can’t do anything for us.
E. Matt. 6:25-34 - “There are two days in the week about which I never worry. Two carefree days kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is yesterday - and the other day I do not worry about is tomorrow.” - Robert Burdette
If we put our trust in a God that is bigger than our worries, then He will take care of us. Remember the words of 1 Peter 5:7 - “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
III. God Can Help You With Your Sin
A. Lastly, your God is too small if you think you can’t overcome your sin.
What’s that one sin that keeps creeping back into your life? What’s the one thing that Satan knows will get you every time?
You may have heard that if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, then he’ll jump right out. But, if you put him in a pot of cool water, and then heat it up until it’s boiling, he’ll allow himself to be cooked. When sudden, heinous sins waive their ugly faces in front of us, we usually will turn away quite easily. But, what causes people to get away from God is the nearly unseen day-by-day drifting. C.S. Lewis writes, “Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” We have to learn to get out of the pot even when it’s just a little warm.
B. So, how is it that we can do this? Well, we can’t. We can’t overcome sin. Sin is much too strong for us. That is, for us by ourselves. With the help of God, we can overcome anything that Satan throws at us. Remember the words of Paul in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
The United Airlines DC jetliner, involved in history’s worst aviation disaster, was eleven miles from where it should have been when it collided with a Trans World Airlines constellation. That tragedy resulted in the deaths of 135 people. Speaking aeronautically, eleven miles are miniscule. Yet 135 people would be alive today if the jetliner had been where it ought to have been according to instructions. Disastrous results often follow when we deviate even a little from the straight and narrow way. God warns us in Proverbs 4:14,15, “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.”
We’re told to avoid even coming near sin. If we’re not even in the presence of temptation, then it’s going to be really hard to sin. But, what about those times when you can’t get out? What about when you do fall?
C. 1 Cor. 10:13 - God’s not going to leave us alone to battle Satan. He will provide a way out. If we let God help us, we can overcome any sin in our lives.
IV. Conclusion
A. Koi are exotic fish that originated in Japan. The Japanese revere these fish and Americans are collecting them in rapidly increasing numbers. They come in at least sixty varieties, and no two fish are exactly alike. For the amateur collector, you can buy a small domestic koi for as little as $7.50. The starting price for a respectable Japanese koi is $500, and a grown Japanese koi can be sold for as much as $10,000. The most unusual aspect of these exotic fish is how they grow. Koi can grow up to three feet in length or remain just a few inches long. Their growth is determined by the size of the pond. If the pond is large, the fish will be large. If the pond is small, the fish will remain small. Regardless of their size, they can live up to seventy-five years.
Our faith in God is similar. If we keep God confined to one small aspect of our lives, then our faith will remain small. However, if we believe in a bigger God, and allow Him to penetrate our entire lives, then our faith will grow accordingly.
C. So, how big is your God? Is he big enough to see you once you leave this building? Is he big enough to help you get through your daily worries and sins?
There’s a children’s song that is often used at VBS’s or similar things that says, “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God can not do.” If children can say that, then why can’t we? Is your God big enough to handle anything in your life?
INVITATION
