God is Infinite, so We don’t have to be:

I have been continuing my work on my new Bible Devotional  about the characteristics of God.  This book is called, “The Attributes of God,” by Kristin Schmucker. In the second week, we started to learn about God being Infinite as well as God being immutable or unchanging nature.  God is infinite in the sense that He is a part of the past, present, and the future.  He is all knowing, all powerful, and all good.  He has always been this way and will always be.  

We, as people, are constantly thinking we need to be infinite as well.  We are constantly thinking that we need to do and be in charge of everything and everyone.  When in reality, we are only in charge of a small number of things.  Our only main goal or reality is to praise God and to remember his infinity.  We need to remember He is ultimately the one in charge and the one who is good.  This is why we don’t have to be.  We don’t have to be everything.  We don’t have to feel intense pressure on our shoulders at all hours.  

Through this devotional book, I have started to really look at how there are choices I make where I don’t fully understand God or his infinity and eternity.  This is an important thing to be aware of.  The world is constantly telling us that we need to be able to do everything.  We need to have it all and we need to do it all.  Our society, especially in American culture, praises those who work really hard and do a lot of stuff.  We need to be aware of this bias to do absolutely everything.  

We don’t have to be completely moral or completely good.  We just need to be willing to serve a God who is. I personally really struggle with this.  I struggle feeling as though I need to do everything perfectly right.  I want to always be the best employee, best daughter, best partner to my future husband, and the best Christian.  I want to know I can do everything to the best of my ability, all the time.  

One quote I want to take from this devotional book and have us all reflect on is, “We look to our spouse to be a rock for us that only God can be.  We dread the thought of friendship growing apart.  We do not even like to change the simplest parts of our routines.  We crave the eternal and immutable, but by doing this, we make idols out of earthly things.”

I love this because it shows we do enjoy making idols out of pretty much everything.  I know I can struggle to make idols out of exercise, out of my job, and out of my friends.  I want to be known for being a good person by others.  I want those to know me to like me, and I start to get insecure when I think some people are starting to dislike me or are disappointed in me.  I also want to be known as someone who can do a lot of hard exercises.  I am proud when people are impressed by how long I run or how long I bike and when I describe the different races.  I also love when I can get acknowledged at my work.  I want people to know me as a hard worker and to want to acknowledge my abilities and skills at my job.  

There are also many verses describing God as infinite and eternal.  One verse is Psalm 147:5 which says, “Great is the Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.”  Another verse is at the end of the Bible in Revelation 1:8 which says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” These are verses we should speak to ourselves, so we can remember the position God is in and the ones that we are in.  

The challenge for this week is to spend some time reflecting on whether or not, you are a person who does not like to see God as an eternal or an infinite being.  If you are one to not see God as either one of those, how do you try to be eternal or infinite yourself.  How do you try to make up for it through your work, or through your friendships or even through your hobbies and talents?  Do you find solace in the other things of this world?