The room was filled with eager to learn Haitian pastors, church leaders, and other interested persons. I was teaching the book of Ephesians as part of a week long pastor’s conference. The notepads of these students were being filled with jewels of truth that we were uncovering together from the text. Our study had brought us to the section of Ephesians that speaks of the fulness of God (3:19). Paul’s prayer was that the Ephesians would be able to fully comprehend the fulness of all that God fills. Don’t be confused by that last sentence. It’s fully difficult to discuss the fulness of God! As I was teaching, I noticed a bucket on the floor. As happens so often with me, I saw an immediate opportunity to describe in a tangible way the fulness of God and our inability to fully comprehend it. We were only a few yards away from the northwestern shore of Haiti. The vastness of the Atlantic Ocean was at our disposal. Picking up the bucket I instructed one of the students to take the bucket down to the beach and bring back to me the Atlantic Ocean. One thing you must understand about Haitians is that they are a very obedient people. They will do nearly anything you ask of them. The young man took the bucket from my hand and headed out the door to bring back the ocean in a bucket—or at least he was going to try to do so! I stopped him as he stepped through the doorway. My explanation to him and the group of students was that he could not possibly bring me the ENTIRE ocean in a bucket. He could bring me a portion of it, but not the whole. There simply is not a bucket big enough in which to fit an ocean nor our God. Yet, God wants to fill us in such a way that we know fully the fulness of all that He fills. God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the Lord, ‘And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord.”~Jeremiah 23:23-24 Wow! This statement of God contains an ocean of truth. God fills up everything to the full. You cannot go anywhere that God is not and everywhere you go God is already there. He is like the ocean into which we dip our tiny buckets. He is not diminished by our filling nor does He cease to be the Filler of all that exist. Go ahead—fill your bucket—then fill it again and again!
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 14:47:44 +0000
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