April's Mid-Month Moments by Connie Inglis

 April - Mid-Month Moments

Do you remember playing "dress-up" as a child? I do. My sisters and I would try on our mother's clothes often - and that was at a time when stiletto shoes with pointed toes and fancy, felt hats were in style. We would traipse around the house in oversized dresses, trying not to fall off our shoes, all the while our hats slipping down over our eyes. Other times I remember sticking my small feet into my dad's shiny, black, "church" shoes and clunking about. Of course, the clothing was all too big for us but that didn't matter. We wanted to be like our parents--at least for a short while.

I read something recently in Brennan Manning's book, Ruthless Trust, that brought this "dress-up" memory to mind. In talking about completely trusting God, he wrote, "...we are made for that which is too big for us. We are made for God, and nothing less will ever satisfy us."

The "bigness" of God can, at times, overwhelm us. And it should. He is indefinable, ineffable, eternal, and mysterious. And yet, He chose to reveal Himself--to reveal His mystery--when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ into this world. Col. 1:27 says, "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." God chose to tell us about Himself through Jesus.

He also chose to call us His children. John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name."

So, as His children, shouldn't we strive to be like our Father? To walk around desiring to fit in His shoes, His clothes? To follow the pattern Jesus showed us? We know He is w-a-a-ay too big for us but why should that matter when we were made to dwell in His "bigness."

As believers, we talk about a hole in our hearts that only God can fill. And, according to Eccl. 3:11 (He has also set eternity in the human heart), that is true.

After pondering Manning's quote, I think that I need to look at things from a bigger perspective. So that it is not that I have a God-shaped space in my heart but rather, it is GOD that has a Connie-shaped space in His heart. A space designed exactly for me to curl up in--and rest in. I believe He has a space like that for each of us. A space created just for you! Because, in His "bigness," there is room for us all. And because, that's how much He loves us--enough to, firstly, create us unique and uniquely loved, and then, to give us a resting place in Himself, created uniquely for each of us.

Oh how He loves us! Oh how He wants us to trust in that Love completely--to be like children and put on His clothes. There are many verses in the Bible about "putting off" and "putting on."

Rom. 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."

Eph.4:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

And Col. 3:1-15 has a long list of things we should take off and what we should put on.

Of course, we don't have to do this alone. Jesus modeled a way for us when He was here on earth. He lived a life of complete dependence on His Father. He spent time in prayer--and then He would do His Father's will. He trusted completely in His Father's "bigness."

My prayer for us this week is that we will bask in the wonder of being made for "that which is too big for us," and that we will take time to rest in the space He created for us in Himself--and from there we will put on the Lord Jesus Christ so that our "clothing" will reveal our Father, who loves us and whom we love. 

In the "bigness" of His glory,

Connie

May 3, 2018

Mid-Month Moments are past devotionals written by Connie Inglis that she shared each week when she was InScribe's spiritual advisor. (Originally called 'Mid-Week Moments') They are shared from her archives with permission in the middle of each month.