I had the opportunity last year to meet William Paul Young, author of “The Shack”. In that time, he shared his heart and how that book came about. He also talked about the controversy that was created when in his allegory the person who represented God was a female. His message was simple, “Don’t put God in a box. He is who we need Him to be at the moment of our need.”
As I was reading the Bible this morning, God directed me to Ruth. As I was reading about Boaz being the kinsman redeemer, my mind went back to an old song called “He Is” by Aaron Geoffrey. In my mind, I heard them sing, “In Ruth He is our kinsman redeemer.” The song goes through every book of the Bible and says who God is in that book. All of a sudden it clicked. God truly is everything we need Him to be for us.
To confine Him to a box of male or female would be ridiculous. That’s the point that William Paul Young was trying to make. He was forcing us out of limiting who God is in our lives by trying to define Him with something that has limitations. Our minds want to grasp who He is, but don’t have the ability to so we try to compartmentalize Him. We try to make Him fit, but we can’t.
The song illustrates that in the Bible God is who each person needed Him to be. All throughout the scriptures God is sufficient to meet the needs of the people. He is sufficient today to meet your needs as well. He is more than able to be who you need Him to be when you need Him to be it. To David, He was a strong and mighty tower when His enemies came after Him.
Who do you need Him to be today? Are you worried and stressed out? According to Isaiah, He is the Prince of Peace. Have you lost your dad and are in need of fatherly advice? Psalms 68 says that He is a Father to the fatherless. Are you in desperate need of healing? He is the God that heals you. Are you in need of forgiveness of things you’d rather not talk about? He is the God who not only forgives, but casts your sins into the Sea of Forgetfulness.
The Bible is full of scriptures that show God as the One who can be who you need Him to be. Wherever you are, whatever you need, He is able to be and do abundantly above and beyond all you could ever ask or think. He is not confined to be only the God of the box we try to fit Him into. He is the King of Kings and The Lord of Lords. He is deeply concerned with your life and knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows what you’ve done and what you’ve been through and still loves you. He is all you will ever need. He is.
Here’s a link to the YouTube video of the song I mentioned.
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God is so amazing!
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Amen
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Love, love, love The Shack because it is such a good picture of character and heart of the God I know. I also love that song.
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Meeting him was the highlight my trip to San Diego. When he told the story if how he wrote The Shack, tears were running down my face. Incredible miracles in the publishing of it and subsequent events.
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They had him on a talk show on a Sunday night on KSBJ a few years ago and he was talking about it. I was sitting in my car in the parking lot at the hospital crying. Everything surrounding that book is a God thing. Paul Young’s physical hand may have written that book, but the Holy Spirit was the Author.
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Amen!
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I just finished reading the Shack and wrote a review on my blog. It has awakened by desire to seek God more, although I am not a religious person anymore.
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I’m glad to hear it awakened your desire to seek God more. Meeting William Paul Young and getting to know him was amazing. His story did the same for me.
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Absolutely loved The Shack. It ripped God forever out of the tiny little box I had Him in, and completely transformed my relationship with Him. Oh, the ways He uses to reach us – so beyond our human understanding!
Thanks for sharing.
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Praise Jesus!
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It’s amazing how we tend to put God in a box. Thankfully He doesn’t fit and is just who we need Him to be in our lives!
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🙂
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