The God Box

The God Box

Are you a fixer or a faither? When problems arise, do you try to take matters into your own hands and fix them, or do you give them over to God and trust that he will handle them in His time? I say that I have faith, but I have definitely been guilty of being a fixer. Even excessive worry is a sign of little faith. Creflo Dollar made an excellent point when he said that when we worry and try to fix things on our own it's like saying, "Hey God, I got this, because I don't trust you to handle it."

Recently I read an amazing book by Francine Rivers called Redeeming Love. The book is set in the 1800's but it is based on the book of Hosea in the Bible. The main character had suffered so many traumatic events that she had a hard time believing in and accepting God's love.

As the novel progressed she ended up meeting people who not only taught her about God's grace but they were faith personified in that their day to day actions made it evident that they believed in God and lived by His Word.

One of her friends introduced her to something called a God Box. To the untrained eye, the God Box merely looked like a plain card board box with a slot in the top, but its meaning and power went far beyond its appearance.

The friend who created the box was a fixer and a worrier. She had the complex that many of us suffer from today of trying to save the world. She always tried to take problems into her own hands instead of seeking God first. So she created the box to remedy this problem. She said...

"When problems prey on my mind, I write them down, fold them up, and put them through the slot. Once they are inside the box, they are God's problem and not mine."

As simple as it all sounds, the box helped her to seek God first instead of trying to handle things on her own. It helped her to convert from being a fixer to a faither.
I used this example to create an actual God Box and an activity to accompany it that I presented at Bible study. Here are the benefits of creating your own God box...

• It helps "fixers," worriers, and people who tend to "play God."
• It helps with letting go.
• It's a reminder to put your faith in God and not yourself or anyone else.

I encourage you say a little prayer when you place each slip into the God Box, then simply let go and let God have his way. We tend to try to plan everything out for ourselves, but God has another plan. When a prayer is answered you can take that slip out of the box. You can also decorate your God Box by placing scriptures on it that remind you of its purpose. You will find the scriptures that I recommend below.
Now go get that shoe box off of the shelf, create your God Box and cast your cares on Him.

Matthew 6:25-34 (New International Version)
Do Not Worry

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Philippians 4:6-7 (New International Version)

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 46 (New International Version)

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah
8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah