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The human brain is a natural gap-filler—it quickly fills in missing details even when we don't give it the whole picture. For instance, if I simply say "dog," you likely picture an image in your mind based on your own experiences, even before I mention the breed. The same applies to the word "car." You will have a make, model, and color as your default. Our minds work quickly to create assumptions, but they don't always reflect the reality.

I find that "god-making" is common, as it has always been. People tend to fill in the gaps with sometimes ludicrous ideas. Their god may be what they have read about mixed in with whatever their mind conjured up a god should be like.

Created gods like this tend to be localized in scope and power. Egypt created a couple of thousand gods, one for the sun, another for the moon, the sky, love, and death. They pictured them as dogs, cats, cows, and birds. They believed one had power over this, but not that.

In (1 Kings 20:1), there is a story about a Syrian king named Ben-Hadad who invaded Israel but was defeated by Ahab, King of Israel. So, his servants assumed they were fighting against a god of the mountains who only had power there:

(1 Kings 20:23 NASB) Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

After their defeat, they assembled another army and invaded Israel again the following spring, drawing Israel into a battle in the valley, but they were defeated again.

(1 Kings 20:28-29 NASB) Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because the Arameans have said, "The LORD is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys," therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.' " So they camped one over against the other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day.

Instead of learning who the God of the Israelites was, the Syrians created an image of Him in their heads - and it was wrong. Too many times, I have heard, "God would never do that," from someone who obviously had not read the Bible.

The Lord is complex. He once spoke to Moses through a burning bush but to Balaam through a donkey. He destroyed the inhabitants of the Earth with a flood because of sinners but later allowed them to crucify His Son on Calvary to redeem them. The Israelites believed they were undefeatable when they carried the Ark of the Covenant into battle, yet God allowed the Philistines to defeat them and capture it. Predictable, He is not.

Overcoming our misconceptions about God's limitations is a battle of the mind. The Bible tells us about God, but not necessarily everything about Him. For example, He often helps me with technical problems and makes complicated things trivial. At times, I can fix a computer by touching it. That began in 1989 when a prophet laid hands on me and prophesied about the Lord giving me an understanding of things complex. I didn't believe in prophets then. I do now. The Lord did that to prepare me for what we are doing now, yet the Bible does not mention technical gifts.

The Bible is limited to God, but God is not limited by the Bible. There are things we don't know. For instance, the Apostle John was told not to write some of what he had seen:

(Revelation 10:4 NKJV) Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them."

There are mysteries yet to be revealed, but there is still a lot we can learn. One thing, as the Syrians learned, is that the Lord is God on the mountain and still God down in the valley. He is the God of yesterday and the God of tomorrow. He is God right now, very large and in charge.

He is also not the God of a chosen few. When I became serious about knowing the Lord, I felt the Pastor certainly heard from Him, and the elders would hear Him at times, for they would speak anointed words that would cut to the heart, but I felt like an outsider. As if the Lord didn't know me. I felt I didn't really matter, but I was still happy to be on the bus with others He did know.

Then, the Lord began showing up at my workplace during the day. One day, I felt oil being poured over my head while polishing brass, and things began to change. I played music in bars at night to help pay my way through seminary, and He began showing up there. He gave me words for people that would cause them to tremble and shake until they would ask me to pray with them so it would stop. This happened at work and in bar parking lots.

(Jeremiah 29:13 NASB) 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

This is the way. Do not despise small beginnings, for they can have great endings. The Lord knows how many hairs are on your head (Matthew 10:30). Do you not believe that He knows about your situation? He knew it before you were born. He's God on the mountain. He's God in the valley.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for another day! Help me let go of the bad and cling to what is good. Please speak to me in a way that I understand. I want to know You more. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!