Popping The Lid

It was just another cold, dreary, winter day and I fought to keep my lid of sanity intact.

I was so tired of feeling tired, of feeling like the slowest mom in the world, of feeling like the world consisted only of the walls of my dirty, unkempt, unorganized, house.

I felt a lot like a glob of bread dough that was kept in the bowl a little too long.

Or maybe like a dog or kitten that is held inside a box, (my children do that sometimes).

Suppressed.

Pushed down.

No hope of ever seeing the world again outside the box.

THE BOX. 

The thing that kept me from enjoying life.

Hmmm….

Was that the way it was?

Or was that just the way I thought it was?

Then, I listened to a guy talk about the word unlimited. He suggests that there really are no limits. To our thinking.

Instead, our thoughts can be totally off the charts.

The sky only is the limit.

“You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.”

Hmmm… I wonder….if he ever had a houseful of boys to take care of, feed, wash clothes for, keep healthy and clean. Not to mention the 101 other things a Mom has to tend and see after.

Did he ever need to keep a house organized and groceries in the cupboards?

Did he ever have a whole handful of naughty little ones to train and discipline?

Did he ever have to keep working, fixing food for small people, taking toddlers to the bathroom, all the while feeling sick as a dog? (Most men act like they’re dying whenever they get the mere flu.)

Does his thinking ever get him inside a box?

Maybe.

Just maybe.

“There’s other things in life that others are called to deal with that are just as challenging to them as your life is right now”, a still small voice reminded me.

Yes. I know.

But that still didn’t get me out of my box.

So if the sky is the limit, why am I still in this box?

Who or what got me inside of this box?

Hmmm….

Maybe…

Did I put myself in this box?

Did I allow my negative thinking take me down this ugly path, straight into this box?

Why do I want to stay in this box when I have the opportunity to fly as high as the sky?

And how do you get out of this confining box once you’re inside?

And then I read a verse in Eph. 3:20 that just blew the lid off my box.

For real.

Let me read it to you.-

“Now to Him Who, by the [action of His]

 power that is at work within us,

 is able to [carry out His purpose and]

 do superabundantly, 

far over and above all that we

 [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond

 our highest prayers, desires,

 thoughts, hope’s or dreams]- 

Now doesn’t that just blow the top of your lid off, too?

It’s like a real, WOW, kind of moment.

God is not limited.

To a box.

Neither am I. Or you!

God is at work, inside of me and you, and His great power moving within us can cause our lives to feel like we’re in a construction zone at times, right?

But just wait, even though our life may seem limited at the time, and like we are confined to the four walls surrounding us right now, God is fixing to throw some dynamite into your box that will blow the lid off your box so far, that,.. that,… well,.. your whole life will be changed.

For real.

Your lid will pop off.

God works superabundantly.

Don’t you just love that word?

Beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams.

It says He works way beyond even that.

Hmmm…

Maybe I’ve put God in a box, too.

Maybe, you have , too.

?

Maybe we have put a limit on what God can do?

Have we let our thinking keep us confined to a box instead of living outside in a world that has no limits?

Thinking positively outside the box takes effort and hard work.

But the power of our limitless God makes so it’s no longer impossible.

Aren’t you ready to pop the lid off your box and start living a life with no limits?

As I write, my house is still not organized, it’s still messy, and I don’t always feel the best.

My little ones try my patience and demand attention right when I’m in the middle of doing the dishes.

I still sometimes tend to dwell on the negative side of things and notice the mistakes of my family.

But I’ve learned that, “only as high as I reach, can I grow; only as far as I seek, can I go; only as deep as I look, can I see; only as much as I dream, can I be.”

Who wants to stay confined in a box when we have a God that is limitless?

When life can be lived outside the box in superabundant power that far supersedes all our highest longings and dreams, even prayers, for the future?

My outside world still looks the same, but inside of me, something has changed.

I no longer am limited by the four walls surrounding me, but the possibilities are endless.

If I can see beyond the demands and needs of my little people, I’ll be able to see opportunities instead of detours.

If I can look deeper than the mistakes of my family, I will see potential in each one instead of failure.

If I can dream in spite of the odds, I’ll become the kind of person God really meant for me to be, instead of what others think I should be.

If I pop the lid on my box, my glob of dough will rise to heights that I never knew would be possible.

Aren’t you glad and so grateful for the privilege of having such an awesome great God?

And so unlimited.

I am.

And I am so thankful He showed me how to pop my lid.

Watch. Me. Raise to the top. 🙂