++We serve a BIG God++

Everyone has a story.

You also have a supposed to be that goes along with that story…

“I was supposed to be married”

“I was supposed to have a nice home”

“I was supposed to have a family”

“I was supposed to be happy”

“I was supposed to be in love”

“I was supposed to retire”

“I was supposed to be healthy”

“I was supposed to have my life together”

You get the idea. All of us in our mind have a story of what your life is supposed to be.

For the most part it comes from what society has told you. You’re in your 30’s? You’re supposed to be married and have kids. You’re in your 40’s? You’re supposed to have a career and a stable job. You’re in your 50’s? You’re supposed to have grandchildren and a retirement plan. You’re in your 60’s? You’re supposed to be retired and living a life of leisure.

Is this really obtainable? How many people do you know who were supposed to do these things and it worked out for them? Worked out just fine, right?

But it’s what we are supposed to be.

Supposed to makes you feel like you are stuck, it feels like a weight that you can’t get out from under. And wouldn’t you really, really like that weight lifted off of you? Of course we would.

Wouldn’t that benefit you? No. It would not.

It wouldn’t because you are stuck, but not in the way you think… You’re stuck in a story about yourself, about a future you’ve already decided will never happen, and a past that you can never change.

That’s what it really means to be stuck.

I know this from experience when I was called and God spoke to me. He spoke to me and told me what I was to do – and I told Him that it will never happen. I didn’t even give it a chance, I rejected myself before it even began.

“I can’t do this”, “I don’t have the strength”, “I’m not capable…” I’ve said all of this to God, many times, because I was stuck in a story about myself…

But what’s so important to realize is you are in a story that’s so much bigger than you.

With God the story is always BIGGER than YOU.

When you get stuck in yourself, you miss the point that God is doing something that is bigger… much bigger than you. Its bigger than what’s hurting you. It’s bigger than the time you think you’ve wasted and bigger than the opinion of others – that all of us care so much about.

When you tell God you are stuck, when you say, “I’ll never be able to do this, God”, when you make it about you – You’re limiting God to the size of your biggest problem. Think about it.

God is so much BIGGER than that. You can’t even begin to comprehend his plan – a plan that includes you but is so much more than you.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (ISAIAH 55:8-9 NIV)

I love to quote from ISAIAH, and this verse is perfect. ISAIAH is my go-to book of the bible. A little bit of backstory on that – His name in Hebrew means “God is Salvation.” I have ‘ISAIAH 45’ tattooed on my chest, along with a silhouette of a falcon (a reference to Cyrus the Great liberating Israel).

In fact, my tattoos and my decision after my salvation to show my faith to the world in that manner are a reference to another verse in ISAIAH:

“Behold! I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” (ISAIAH 49:16 KJV)

Depending on how you view of the meaning of the original Hebrew word “charath” in that verse, it generally means “to carve, engrave, inscribe” which many scholars believe is meant to convey that God has all of our names engraved, or tattooed on His hands.

This a powerful image and reminder of God’s commitment and remembrance of His people. It is a message that He will never forget them or forsake them.

Simply put, my tattoos are a permanent reminder of my vows to God to never forsake or forget Him in my life.

The idea for this devotional came about one night thinking about my life and His calling for me, and how in the heck I’m going to get there. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone the full details of the vision God gave me after my salvation in 2021, but he pretty much told me in exact terms what would be my future. Well beyond the original words spoken to me by God on the day I was saved.

My honest response to that is I wish God had not told me that. I don’t want that responsibility and don’t think I can handle that, ever. There’s no scenario or way where I could ever see that become a reality in my life.

Maybe saying that diminishes me in the eyes some, but as I’ve said before – Sometimes I’d rather be real than right in life.

I think the few people who’ve read my devotional posts would see its obviously been difficult for me to accept my calling and have a faith strong enough to believe in what seems impossible will not only be possible someday – but a certainty.

What God proclaims over your life will happen. One way or another, His words are always fulfilled.

That is what got me thinking about how I view God. And I’m probably not alone in that view, all of us see God in terms of what our human mind can comprehend. After all, He sent His only son Jesus to us by becoming human.

When we say something is impossible, we forget that nothing is impossible with God.

In fact, not only do we serve the God of the impossible, that’s His modus operandi.

Our God loves the impossible, and “impossible” odds are his favorite type of odds!

Why is this? Because impossible odds set the stage for some amazing miracles. For the simple fact that there is no greater way for God to demonstrate His glory than through making the impossible happen – every single time.

So, if He is the God of the impossible, then just how big is the God we serve?

There are almost 8 billion 8.2 billion people now on this planet since this post was originally written.

Imagine all the prayers of those people that He’s keeping track of, but really that’s just small change for Him. You see God already knows every second of the entire lives of all 8.2 billion people.

And as impressive and “impossible” as that may seem…He also knows the space in-between each second of the 8 billion people’s lives – and every living creature that ever existed. Both in the past and that will exist in the future. For infinity.

There’s a common saying in statistics on probability,

“Given infinite time, even most improbable outcome becomes a certainty.”

Well, our God created infinity. Think on that one if you can.

Scientists also say the smallest measure of time is called Planck time. It’s basically a brief ‘blip’ of time that lasts just 10 ^-43 seconds. Which is just 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 seconds.

Any moment shorter than that, quantum mechanics can’t tell whether it’s the past or present.

Do you know where God is? He’s in the space that quantum mechanics says can’t exist.

And for every one of those 8 billion people on this planet, and for every creature that has ever existed – both in the past and will exist in the future.

And you are worried that God might not help you make your car payment?

Remember, we serve a God who invites us to defy impossible odds.

When David (the future king of Israel) was still a Shepard boy, he told Saul these words,

“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Phillistine (Goliath) will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” (Samuel 17:36 NIV)

David didn’t ask God to shrink his problem. He asked God for the strength and the power to conquer his problem.

And he did.

So then how BIG is the God you serve?

AMEN