Length x width x height = no big deal

I like The Matrix movies. There, I said it. I confess. I love the whole plugged into the matrix or not plugged in. But I really love the mental acrobatics the characters have to work through. Learning that when they're jumping off a building, they're not really jumping off a building. Hopping off the curb is no different from stepping off the empire state!

But most of us don't see the world that way do we... Try this; take a 2x4 and lay it on the ground and see if you can walk across it. Easy, wasn't it. Now put that same 2x4, let's say, 20 feet in the air and try it again. What's the matter? Chicken? Same board. What's changed? Your focus has changed. When the board was on the ground you were able to focus on balancing because you weren't worried about falling off. When you're 20 feet up your focus is NOT on the board, it's on the ground and what will happen when you hit it!

But those same mental acrobatics are not something God struggles with. In Mark 9 Jesus steps into a situation where people are focused on the wrong thing. A father is bringing Jesus his son (we don't know his age but could assume he is in his middle to late teens) who is possessed by a demon. The demon attempts to kill the boy by sending him into convulsions near fire or water so that the boy is always in danger of dying while he's having one of these seizures. The father tells Jesus that some of His disciples had already tried to cast the demon out but they couldn't do it... the boys father is loosing hope. Jesus, His disciples, were probably the mans final hope. But it wasn't looking good. He'd hit another dead end. The doctors, spiritualists, fakers, they all failed and it looked like Jesus would too.

But once Jesus gets to the scene he asks this question, "how long has he been like this?" to which the father replies, "since he was a small boy." Now the crowd is really concerned! the disciples couldn't cast out the demon AND it has possessed the boy since he was a child! It's looking hopeless!

Here's what we need to understand about God. He is not limited. The man could have been possessed for 5 min or 50 years - it wouldn't matter for Jesus! Our God functions outside our finite reality! The size of the problem, debt, hole you've dug doesn't scare God. When you own it all, control it all, created it all, little things like how long or high or much or deep don't bother you. For Jesus, it's just as easy to say, "your sins are forgiven" as it is to say, "take up your mat and walk."

So the next time you start thinking that your situation is too big. Your problem too complex. Your relationship too broken. The hole you've dug, too deep. Remember this. God is God. There is none like Him. His power, infinite. His resources, boundless. His Grace, always sufficient. His mercy, never ending. His strength, limitless. His love... Higher. Deeper. Longer. Wider. You can never - no matter what, get in too deep, be too far gone, be too lost for God. Your "rock bottom" is God's starting line. Your ocean, God's puddle. Your mountain, God's stepping stone.