God’s will for your life is probably a lot bigger than what you imagine it to be. God always seems to go big, and then doesn’t go home, but goes even bigger next time. It’s important to realize this, because if our mindset about what the Lord wants to accomplish through us is too small we will be easily tempted to be satisfied with our vision and settle for less power and grace, and ultimately fail to do all that He has called us to do.
Think about our God for a moment – – – He is the God of Creation. How large is the Universe? That’s right, we don’t even know. We cannot begin to fathom in these pea brains how big it is. To think that you could even travel in one direction at light speed for millions of years is unfathomable. When God created, he went big. Even the earth seems big to us. Oceans, mountains, forests – each one is towering and too deep for us to fully explore, even if we had many lifetimes. When I think of how many people are in the world, with all of their individual lives, different cultures and locations, my brain stops pretty quickly to be able to comprehend it. A universe making God – a world making God – is not going to have a little, comfortable, shallow plan for your life.
God’s call to humanity was not to have a couple of kids; it was to multiply across the face of the whole earth and to take dominion over it. Noah was called to build a ship large enough to withstand a global flood (when he had never seen rain before!) and to shelter each of the animals in it for months. Abraham was called to leave everything just “go” with his family, not knowing where he was supposed to be going, or what he was going to do when he got there! Joseph was called to suffer misfortune after misfortunate, disappointment after disappointment: why? So he could save the world from hunger.
Think about Israel! Wow. When God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt he parted an ocean and they walked on dry ground. That’s big! He fed them with food from the sky. Their shoes never wore out in a lifelong desert journey. He called his little flock – a small nation, untrained and unequipped – to conquer another land, and not just any land- a land full of giants!!! He parted the Jordan River as well. He didn’t just call Israel out of bondage, but into a glorious calling: to be a light to all the nations. Israel certainly struggled to fully embrace their new identity and to grasp the scope of Yahweh’s plan for them. That first generation failed to enter the promised land because their view of God was too small. They saw giants in Canaan and they saw themselves as grasshoppers, but they failed to remember Elohim, the God who created the universe and the world, and the one who redeemed them out of Egypt with a strong arm.
God’s plan of redemption is so much bigger and fuller than we could have ever imagined. God came to earth, not in the way we would have guessed, but as a baby. He came, in the flesh, not through a delegation of some kind. He didn’t come to just straighten things out and then return to heaven. No, he came as us, identifying with us, becoming us, taking upon himself our sin, so that we might be freed. No one would have expected this. His plans are deeply profound. This rescue mission was, and is, millennia in the making. He didn’t just come to fight like a warrior against the enemies of God (like a regular king would). He submitted to death, then as a dead corpse, raised himself from the dead. You cannot get any bigger than this!!!!!!!
He calls his followers to leave everything. He calls them to save and change the whole world (great commission). He calls them to be perfect. He is calling YOU to something BIG. When you truly hear his voice – his call over your life – you will be terrified and your first natural thought will probably be, “There’s no way.” Those reactions most likely mean you heard correctly. His will is scary, impossible and at the very least uncomfortable. We have a choice – to follow in faith or to flee in fear. He calls us to more than we are able, but he also offers us everything we need. He offers to go with us, to bear the burden, to fight the enemy, to do all the work. But we must be willing and obedient. We must open our eyes and our minds and let them be stretched. He says to the barren women, “Bear many children.” What is he saying to you? With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible!!!
Brother Lee 