Most church meetings start with someone sharing a devotion by reading an excerpt from the Bible or telling a story. (Yawn!) One church leader however, had something very different planned for us. She brought a cardboard box filled with slips of paper and asked each of us to take one and write a statement about “Something God can do,” or “Something God has done.” Then put the paper back in the box.
Then she said: “We have all these wonderful statements about God inside this box.” Then she paused, smiled and said, “but we can’t leave God in a box, can we? Can we!!?”
Then she read from Ephesians: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” — Eph. 3:16-18
She then said: “God strengthens us with power through His Spirit. Christ dwells in your hearts through faith. Being rooted and established in love, you have power. To grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” She then passed the box around the room again and said: “Pull out one slip of paper and read it to us. After reading it, tape the statement to the outside of the box.”
One after another we read and taped:
• God healed my broken spirit so many times.
• God moves mountains: those in our hearts and those in our minds.
• God helps me grow in my faith.
• God blessed me with a beautiful loving fiancé.
• God gives you strength to be strong in the face of persecution.
God healed. God moved mountains. God helped me grow. God blessed me. God can give you strength. Something significant was stirring within our meeting. A group of people gathered to do the business of the church found themselves being transformed through God’s Holy Spirit.
We read more slips of paper and taped them to the box.
• God brings us together.
• God becomes visible when we need Him most.
• God can heal all doubts.
• God can heal our wounded hearts.
• God kept His promises to me.
Wow! Something was happening as we heard one saying after another: “God brings us together. God makes himself visible. God can heal our doubts and our wounded hearts. God keeps his promises. As each person spoke and taped their saying to the box, you could feel the power of God in our midst.
• God was there to comfort and give me patience while at home recovering.
• God gave me peace of mind following a very anxious and troubling event.
• God loves us even when we mess up!
• God provided me with a loving, wonderful spouse.
• God opened my heart to serving.
Our hearts and minds were melting as we heard one example after another about our amazing Lord. “God comforts. God gives me peace. God loves us. God provides. God opened my heart.” It was encouraging to hear so many examples of what God can do and has done but it was especially encouraging to see the cardboard box now literally covered with examples of Gods’ amazing love.
Our leader than shared a passage from Jeremiah: “O Sovereign lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” (32:17) In other words she said: “God can do all things. God can make all things new – including me and you.”
Wow! In one powerful lesson, this leader demonstrated that typical church meetings are never typical if God is involved. Our God can do all things and make all things new. Thanks to the lesson provided by one leader, one meeting was transformed into a “Holy Moment” of God.
