A GOD WHO KNOWS NO LIMIT

Jeremiah 23:23 “Am I only a God nearby, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?”

God has no limits. That’s hard for us to even imagine, because most of our frustrations in life are a direct result of limitations. We’re limited by space because we can only be in one place at one time. We’re also limited in our knowledge. The old adage is true, "The more you learn, the more you know how much you don’t know". Living in an information based society like we do, we realize that we’ll never know even a fraction of what we could know. We encounter more information in one issue of The New York Times than a person in 18th century England encountered in his or her entire life. We’re constantly facing circumstances where we don’t know what to do, trying to answer questions we don’t know the answers to.

We also face limitations in our resources. As much as we like to pretend that we’re invincible, all of us have a breaking point; all of us reach the point of being physically exhausted, mentally spent, spiritually empty, and financially busted. We’re overwhelmed with the needs around us, whether it’s the transient at the gas station or a co-worker who can’t meet his rent, yet we look at our own resource and realize how limited they are. Because we’re so accustomed to these kinds of limitations it’s hard for us to conceive of a God who isn’t bothered by limitations.

As Christians we sometimes forget that God is already present. We tend to think of God’s presence is being like a NASA spy satellite. The satellite is roaming around the atmosphere, present one day, gone the next. You never know when it’s here and when it’s not. Sometimes our worship songs reflect a misunderstanding of God’s presence. When we ask God to "come" and "fill this place" we’re not asking God to be more present now then he was yesterday or last week. God is as present today as he ever has been and ever will be. When we sing these words we’re not asking God to be present, we’re asking God to make his presence known, to draw us into an awareness of his presence, to help us experience his presence as we worship.

We don’t have to beg and plead with God to show up, we don’t have to worry a Sunday might come when he doesn’t show up in our worship. Since God isn’t limited by space, we can draw near to him at any time, in any place. God is as present today in the local restaurant as he is in our worship service. God is as present today in the adult bookstores as he is on the seminary campus, as present in the bedroom as he is in the chapel, as present on the battlefield as he is at the peace negotiation table.

We can be absolutely confident of this reality, that God is always present with us wherever we are. We may not always feel his presence, we may even feel alone, but we can be confident that he’s here.

God is working to bring about his will, to fulfill his purposes, and he has all the resources he needs to accomplish his will. Because of this, we can anticipate God working in our lives, often in surprising ways. We can anticipate God bringing about amazing circumstances in our lives. We can expect to even see God intervene miraculously in our lives.