Why do we want to limit God?  I have often heard it said that we should not limit God, but what does that really mean?  Recall the time in the wilderness when God was grieved because His people forgot how He had done many signs and wonders to protect and deliver them from Pharaoh and his army.  In Psalm 78, David tells us how the Israelites provoked YHVH by their sin and disobedience, but how YHVH loved them so much, that whether they turned back to Him or not, He would be divinely forgiving and gracious to them.

What grieved YHVH the most was not so much their sin or disobedience as their lack of trust in Him.  They had forgotten all that He had done for them.  He always had their best interest in mind.  YHVH was saddened that His people limited Him: “Again and again they turned back and tested God, and imposed limits on the Holy One of Israel” Psalm 78:41.  What they had forgotten was that no matter how far they strayed from Him and how many times they grieved Him by their sins, He was always merciful to them and forgave and blessed them.

When I think about YHVH as a limitless God who has no beginning and no end (Rev 1:8; 4:8) and who never changes (Mal 3:6, I Sam 15:29), I think about the times in my life that I have meditated on these attributes of God.  When I was a young child, I would lay on my back watching the clouds float by, thinking about how huge the universe was.  Even at a young age, people had told me that God was infinite, that He existed before anything in the Earth or heavens was made, and that He had no beginning.  I could not wrap my mind around the concept that God had no beginning and that He had always existed, before anything in the universe was created.

Knowing about God and His divine attributes intellectually is one thing, but it’s not the same as knowing God personally.  Even now as an adult, I cannot fully understand our God (Yehovah) who has always existed and always will.  But I do not believe YHVH intends for us to understand everything about Him, since He tells us in Isaiah 55:9 – “..just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts”.

At this point, you may be thinking that God is so far beyond us that understanding Him is impossible, and relating to Him in any meaningful way is an insurmountable goal.  We know through Scripture, though, that YHVH has given us the opportunity to have a personal relationship with Him, and that as we draw closer to Him, He will reveal things to us that can help us understand Him better and expand our limited thinking and expectations.  In James 4:8, right after he says to submit to God and resist the devil, he tells that if we draw near to God, then He will draw near to us.

Although we are limited and He is limitless, if we draw near to Him, YHVH will reveal great things to us: “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of people the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit“ (I Cor 2:9-10).  Notice in this passage that it is God’s Holy Spirit who reveals His secrets to those who love Him.  This tells me that we cannot understand the deep things of God in the flesh / physical realm, but only in the Spiritual realm.  As we age in spiritual maturity in YHVH’s kingdom, we learn to draw closer and closer to God by spending time with Him and listening to the voice of His Spirit.

At the same time we understand our limitations and God’s limitlessness, we know that YHVH desires us to seek knowledge and wisdom from Him.  In Jeremiah 29:13, He tells us: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”.  This is the essence of our walk with YHVH – when we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him, and He will reveal His incredible secrets to us as He desires.  Seek this type of relationship with your Creator and Lord and He will give you an abundant life that is so full of wonder and miracles you will not be able to contain them within yourself.