"Outside the Box"

"He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost." (Psalms 78:47) Not your ordinary way of living, but it sure keeps you on your toes; or better yet, on your knees! That is where God really wants us to be, in a place where we are dependent upon Him for what comes next, whether that be our finances, our health, or our ministries; we should always be looking for God to be in control and trusting in His perfect will for our lives. These things that are destroyed are a little different than those in the previous verse; those were more recently performed, more like day to day, week to week, or month to month; these are more stationary and longer established things, that have roots that last a lifetime. It's like we need to be living in such a way that we know we have no control over the outcome of our living. In other words, it is not within our power nor within our control to determine the amount of time we have left, no matter how hard you try to keep yourself in perfect health, or how careful you are to avoid doing something risky, you really have no control over anything when it comes to death. What you do have control over, is where you are headed at that moment you die; that is something God has established from the time He created man, a free will to love Him or to reject Him. You might have thought I was going to say obey, right? Yes, it's really what we always focus on, so why not put it at the top of the list. But it's not!!! Do you actually think Adam had any control over what he did by eating of the forbidden fruit? It was only a matter of time, because it was bound to happen. And don't think for a moment God did not know that it was going to happen, because He did; from the foundation of the world, Jesus Christ was going to be sacrificed upon that cross, so it was well planned from the beginning. It's really all about love! God has given us free will that we might love Him, not that we obey Him, although obedience is par for the course. He knows how weak we are when it comes to being obedient; we can never obtain His level of righteousness or holiness. But we have a link, a common link, and it's love! Amazingly, it's outside of our natural abilities, but God's love is enough for us too...
"This is real love -not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." (1 John 4:10-16) NLT