Do you expect too little? Trusting God to Do Immeasuarbly More!

Do you ever expect too  little of the Lord?  Learn how you can trust him to do “immeasurably more”!

Have you seen the images floating around the internet and on Pinterest, quoting whoever first said, “If you’re dream doesn’t scare you, it isn’t big enough”?

I’m sure it is supposed to be encouraging, maybe even comforting, but here’s the thing:

It’s not really the size of my dream that matters.  It’s the size of my God.

I forget that sometimes.  Do you?

Sometimes, I get confused and think the size of my faith will determine the work he can do on my behalf, but the truth is:

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there; and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.'” (Matthew 17:20)

Wow.  And ouch.

Because I’ve got mountains that need moving.  And they’re not.  What does that say about my faith?

To be honest, I think it usually says I’ve put my faith in the wrong place.

I’m trusting my performance rather than my provider.

Do you know what I mean?

I see the path he puts before me so I start walking and believing that the obedience will bring the outcome.  When I think I see his purpose, I tend to think I know his plan.  I imagine how he’ll do the work, but here’s the thing:

He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20)

My limited imagination expects too little of my limitless God.

I see a way he could provide and think it’s the only way so I start working toward it when his word says he “is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)

It’s not my power at work; it’s his.

My job is not to stress and strive and plan and promote.  It is to trust the one who makes the way, to relax and let him work.

And when he does?

“To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus thorughout all generations, for ever and ever.  Amen.”  (Ephesians 3:21)

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That’s the life I want to live, you know?  The one that walks in obedience and sees the Father work.  A life that lets my “light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

To do that, to live the life that glorifies God,  we have to trust him to do even more than we ask because we can’t even imagine all he’s capable of, but how?

Trusting God Has Good Plans for You

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

One of the reasons I sometimes fail to trust God is because I forget that he’s got good plans for me.  Oh, I believe he’s got good plans for other people, but sometimes I question whether my mistakes or my unfaithfulness has disqualified me somehow, changing his plans from good to “good enough.”  Like he’s looking at me and thinking, “This plan would be good for someone else, but this one here is good enough for her.”

He’s not the God of “good enough.”

He’s the God who “did not spare his own Son, but graciously gave him up for us all – how will he not, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

Do you think you would have ever expected that?  The Israelites expected a king; God gave them so much more.

That’s what he does.

Trusting God is Able

I don’t like to admit it, but sometimes I doubt and wonder if God is able to fix a certain situation.  Other times, I question whether he can provide in time.

Y’all, he can.

He’s proven it time and time again.  It’s time for me to trust him.

After all, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corithians 9:8)

He’s able to:

• Help us when we’re tempted:  “For this reason, he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18)
• Keep us from stubling:  “To him who is able to keep you from stubling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!” (Jude 24-25)
• Enable us to grow in grace:  “Now I commit you to God and to the word of grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

Trusting God to Give Good Gifts

Jesus said, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scoripion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:11-13)

Now, here’s the thing:  my daughter who is eleven wants a phone.  EVERYBODY has a phone!  She’s the only one without a phone.  But….

She’s not getting one today.

Why?

• We are not sure she’s ready for the responsibility that comes with the gift.
• A good gift at the wrong time isn’t always “good.”
• We know more about the thing she wants than she does.

One day, when she was telling me about how left out she felt when EVERYONE else had a phone, I asked her: “Do you believe that if daddy and I thought a phone would be good for you, we would give you one?  Do you trust that we want you to have good things?”  Relunctantly, she said that she did.  So I asked, “Then can you trust us to know when a phone will be a good thing for you to have?”

Y’all, can we trust God the same way we ask our children to trust us?

He see ramifications we don’t and potential problems we can’t possibly perceive.  God knows the dangers and temptations that might accompany the desires we have.

He knows what’s best.

And he does want us to have it.

I’m not preaching prosperity gospel here.  I hope you know that.  I’m talking deeper things than dollars.  I’m talking desires, the ones down deep.  Maybe no one else knows them.  Your Father does, and he promises that if “you delight yourself in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalmm 37:4)

That might involve changing them.

He can do that, you know.

Psalm 145:19 says, “He fulfills the desires of those who fear him…”

I wonder if that’s the key.  It says, “He.”

As you delight in him, HE fills your desires with his presence, his power and his perfect love.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

What do you think?  How do you have faith that God will do even MORE than you expect?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!  Please comment and, if this post encouraged you, share it!    I am joining Kate at Five Minute Friday this week.  The word was “more.”  (I wrote the first section in five minutes, but just had to keep writing!)  

If you’d like to read more about God’s abundant grace, check out these posts: