"Now to HIM who is able to do Immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to HIS power that is in work within us"
~ Ephesians 3:20 ~
A Box. I put God in a box. I quantify His power
in my mind, but my mind is only capable of imagining so little because it is an
earthly perspective. Yes, I believe God can do and has done great things in others
lives as well as mine. I have witnessed great things over the years. However,
whenever God does another great thing, I still find myself completely shocked
at his greatness and power. I still fall onto my knees and look up thinking,
“are you for real right now?” Or whenever I worry about the outcome of
something, I still doubt that God will provide and come through. Why is this?
It baffles me that I have such little faith.I believe that we do not ask God for enough. Not
in terms of, “God I want this much money or I want this amazing job,” but in
terms of, “God I want you to change my heart and attitude.” Or praying for
things in terms of ministry such as, “God, I pray that this campus will be
drastically impacted by you.” Or praying that your friend who is so against any
type of faith will one day understand the love God has for them.
I know I am afraid to pray for these things. I am afraid because there is a part of me that says, “Oh nah, that is too big. That would not happen.” I am afraid of expecting something and then getting let down. I prevent this from happening by not getting my hopes up. This, in part, is because of people who have let me down in the past that leads to a lack of trust. We are constantly told by society that people will let you down and that you cannot expect too much from someone, so we then do the same thing with God. But God will never let you down. He will not only meet your expectations, but also exceed them. It might not be in the exact way you expected, but I can promise it will be better than you expected. He will never let you down. The crazy thing is that God thinks even bigger than our hopes or expectations. He thinks about things that we cannot even comprehend, dream or imagine.
In Luke 5, Jesus shocks Simon Peter. Simon Peter had been out all night trying to catch fish but he had not caught anything. Jesus told him “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon Peter probably looked at Him like “dude. That is why I have been trying to do all night long and it is not going to work this time either.” However, Simon Peter obeyed and put the nets down. I believe Simon Peter let the nets down with a bitter and doubtful attitude. I would have been defensive and put the nets down in spite of Jesus (probably because I am very stubborn). I would have expected to catch zero fish again, or maybe a few just because that would happen to me (kind of like when you say something is not working and then someone comes over to try it and they get it to work the first time… like really?). However, they did catch fish. Not just a few fish, but they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. I imagine Jesus was sitting in the boat with a smile on his face, but not in an “I told you so way,” but in a “look how cool that was” way.
Did you just get what happened? God just blew Simon Peter’s freaking mind. Simon Peter never even thought of the possibility of that happening, but God made it happen. Simon Peter put Jesus into a box. He put Him into the boundaries of the “net” but God literally broke that net. He breaks the “nets” in our lives all the time.
Just this past week God has broken so many of my “nets” and each time I am shocked. I believed God would come through, but never imagined he would come through in the BIG ways that he did.
If you know me well, you know that I rarely ever cry. I hate it. I wish I cried more because there is so much freedom in crying. Sometimes, I try to think of something really sad and try to cry, but that never works. I do not remember the last time I actually cried. If something causes me to just tear up, then that, it itself, is monumental and I consider it “crying.” Three times this week I “cried.” These tears were because of God breaking my “nets” and the box I put him in. I was astonished and will be for a while. But it gets me hecka hype because I cannot wait for him to break more “nets.”
We cannot even begin to grasp the power that He has. No earthly definition can even come close to describing it. But we do not have to understand it to pray for it. I am asking God to break my “nets” to the point that I do not have any left. I am asking for him to blow my mind. Think BIGGER. Hope for MORE.If you pray for God to work in big ways, then prepare to drop your jaw and maybe even cry.
Thank you God. You are so BIG. You are so GOOD.
