Will You Take Him Out?

Psalm 91:14
The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.

This weekend I had the honor of speaking at a teen event in our area.  Without giving any details, I just have to share this amazing demonstration one of the teens shared with another student.  It just amazes me sometimes the things teens can come up with when they are faced with challenges.  As we were in a small group setting, one student was struggling and this one kid threw a box of kleenex at him and told him to wipe his tears without taking a kleenex out of the box.  Well the student just looked at him with much confusion.  Soon the one throwing the box explained that we can use our arm or shirt or whatever else available on our person to clean ourselves up when we are in a mess, never taking a kleenex from the box to help.  He then said, imagine God is the box of kleenex, if we never open the box and “use Him” then there is no value in the box.

Wow!  I just thought to myself, this kid is on to something!  How many times to we keep God in a box, only pulling Him out if we think it is necessary?  Here too, how many times do we try to get ourselves all cleaned up without God’s help?  Too often we just keep God at a safe distance just in case we need to use Him, not realizing He needs to be used daily.  We can compare this to the reading we need to do of the Bible.  It is stated we are to keep His word hidden in our hearts, why?  So at a moments notice we can pull God out and show someone how glorious He is in any circumstance.

If we continue to box up God we will not go any further in our Christian walk.  God wants one on one time all the time, day or night, weak or strong, lost or found, happy or sad, He just wants to be a part of our every day life.  He does not desire to sit on a table “waiting” to be used or only brought out when we are in distress already.  I am not sure I will ever be able to see a box of tissues again and not think of God.  What a wonderful thought, when someone is crying, I can offer them God!  When I am distraught for some reason or something just makes me cry, I can use God! (even though I don’t keep God in a box, it is a good picture)

I urge you today to decide if you are keeping God in a box or are you using Him on regular basis.  When was the last time you opened a Bible just to see God?  How many times have you tried to clean yourself up before seeking God for help?  Like me in my times of stress a few years ago, I only looked for Him when I was truly desperate instead of seeking Him daily.  I pray each of us will begin to see just how much we need God full and present in our now moments, not boxed up only brought out when needed.  Will you take God out of the box today?