God is Infinite…

I like containers. I really like containers that I can see through, you know the ones. You can buy them in all sorts of different sizes and even different colours. So not only can you organize by size but you can organize by colour as well, it’s a beautiful thing.

Something happens to me when I walk down the aisle that displays all those wonderful boxes of order. I get excited as I start to think of all the things that I could do with them. I can create a toy car box and a Barbie box. Then I can get a bigger box for Barbie accessories, after all accessories and Barbies do not belong in the same box. There is the really big container for dress up clothes and a smaller coordinating one for the dress up shoes, which for obvious reasons can not go in the same box as the clothes. There are puzzle containers, Lego containers, paint containers and craft containers… the list is endless. I even have a container for my unused containers! They are all see through but just in case one container should get confused with another container they are also all labeled, this helps to minimize disorder.

I like order, thus my reason for liking containers. I like to have a firm grip on my surroundings and my life in general. If I can put it in a box then that means it is tangible for me. I like the idea of having a very structured life but the realities of being a mom of four has caused me to simply “like the idea”. I think that perhaps my busy life has caused me to like containers even more, they give the appearance of control.

You are probably asking yourself what this could possibly have to do with God’s Infinitude? Well, you see I have come to realize that I have spent a large part of my Christian journey walking around with God in a container. It’s not like I put Him in a small container, it was pretty big, but it was a container nonetheless. And so begins our journey…

So what does “God is Infinite” really mean?

Growing up in the church I have developed a certain language, so to speak. One of the common phrases in that language is “God is Infinite”. It always seemed basic enough to me. It simply meant that God didn’t have an end, He just kinda went on forever. I looked at it like space we can’t see the end so it just keeps on going. But that was about the extent of it for me, I never gave it a lot of thought really. God was bigger then me and that was all that mattered. I am only now beginning to realize that by having such a narrow and unexplored view of God’s Infinitude I have put Him in one of my nicely labeled boxes.

Tozer states, “‘Infinite’ means so much that nobody can grasp it, but reason nevertheless kneels and acknowledges that God is infinite. We mean by infinite that God knows no limits, no bounds and no end. What God is, He is without boundaries. All that God is, He is without bounds or limits.” pg. 4 He goes on to give examples of things that we label as ‘boundless or without end’ things such as wealth, energy, space, time, matter and motion. I just finished saying that there was no end to the number of uses for container! But there is an end for all of these things. Money can be counted, regardless of how much there is. Energy is measurable. My containers are not without their limits. “… “boundless”, “unlimited” and “infinite.” These words describe God-they don’t describe anything but God.” pg. 4 I was so happy that Tozer began this study by telling us we couldn’t possible understand what infinite means because I was only a couple of pages in and my head was already spinning!

I love C.S. Lewis’s illustration, “…if you could think of a sheet of paper infinitely extended in all directions, and if you took a pencil and made a line an inch long on it, that would be time. When you started to push your pencil it was the beginning of time and when you lifted it off the paper it was the end of time. And all around, infinitely extended in all directions, is God.” Wow, what really hit me at this point is the fact that I am smaller than a pin prick on that pencil line, yet God has chosen to have a relationship with me.

I couldn’t help but think of Isaiah’s vision. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.” Is. 6:1 Isaiah goes on to describe how the Seraphim called out and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” vs.3 Like Isaiah I can only say, “Woe is me for I am undone…” We have no words to explain the awesomeness of God. Our meager minds, as remarkable as they often seem, do not have the ability to grasp His infinitude. Yet in spite of this God is calling us to go deeper. “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not the things that are on earth.” Col.3:1,2

I am looking forward to our “Journey Into the Father’s Heart”. The jewels are going to be out of this world!