Is your God created out of hunger? There is a quiet danger in faith that doesn’t present itself as rebellion. It feels reasonable. Even reverent. It begins when we try to understand God using only the raw materials of our own experience.
Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
The Origin of Hunger
We are finite creatures, bound by time, limitation, and need. Hunger is one of our earliest teachers. We learn the world first through absence—what we lack, what we want, what we fear losing. And because hunger is our native language, we are tempted to use it as our primary reference point for God.
But when we do that, something subtle happens.
We start shaping God in our own image — not intentionally, not rebelliously, but instinctively, carving Him from the wood of our own longing. We imagine a God who thinks as we do, reacts as we would, and values what we value. That god becomes understandable, predictable, and — most dangerously — familiar.
Habakkuk 2:18 19, “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.”
Made in His Image
Scripture says we are made in God’s image. Our temptation is to distort that truth and shape God in our own image.
Genesis 1:27, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
The issue isn’t that such a god is entirely false. The issue is that he is small. A God born from our desires will always be limited by them. He can’t correct us because he is created from our assumptions. A god created by us can’t confront us because he shares our blind spots. He can’t surprise us because he never exceeds us.
This is why idolatry in Scripture is often described in terms of simple materials—wood, stone, metal —not because the materials themselves matter, but because they are easy to handle. A god we can shape is a god we can coexist with. A god we can live with rarely changes us.
The True God
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The true God resists this simplification. God refuses to fit neatly into our boxes. He answers Moses with “I AM,” not with an explanation. God responds to Job not with reasons but with vastness. He enters the world in Christ in a way no one expects and still cannot be contained.
And yet, even knowing this, I feel the pull.
I want a God I can predict. A God who agrees with my conclusions. A God who confirms my instincts and sanctifies my preferences. I am tempted—daily—to trade awe for familiarity, mystery for manageability.
But a God small enough to be comfortable is too small to be worshiped.
Psalm 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Perhaps the most authentic stance is not certainty, but reverence. Not mastery, but surrender. To allow God to stay God—even when that means acknowledging how little I truly understand.
If I ever find that God fits perfectly within my grasp, it might be time to question whether I have been carving again.
Christmas for the lonely is the worst of all holidays. It is the peak of all the missed chances and forgotten moments that haunt their existence. It seems to amplify their loneliness.
A Season of Gratitude
The Trap of a Single Story
Is today, this week, or this year overwhelming? Do you feel trapped, searching for a way out? We all face storms. Some are caused by our choices, while others are thrust upon us. The winds rage, the rains wash away what we cherish, and darkness presses in. Worst of all, it seems like the storm will never end. That is Satan’s lie. He wants us to believe there’s no way forward.
Are you reaching your Godly potential? Have you maximized what you can do? Maslow once said, “What you can be, you must be.”
If today were your last day on earth, how would you live it? Reflect on life’s meaning, priorities, and what truly matters most. Most of us don’t get that kind of warning. But if we did, would we choose differently? I don’t mean to sound morbid—but it’s a powerful question worth asking.
Happy Birthday to me. Yesterday, I turned seventy-five—three-quarters of a century lived. It’s hard to believe. Deep inside me still lives that sixteen-year-old small-town farm boy wondering how we got here. The truth is, it didn’t happen all at once. It was a journey of countless tiny steps—millions, billions, maybe even trillions of small decisions, each shaping the road ahead.
You were chosen to bear fruit that lasts. Your existence is not temporal; it is eternal. Your actions are not of someone who passes through, but of someone who is sent.
Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”