How Big Is Your God?
“My God is way bigger than me and my meager expectations.”
(My Facebook status 4/2/2012)
Yesterday, I posted on my blog about my upcoming missions trip to Guatemala with the high school youth group from our church. As part of the post, I asked The Stretched Community to pray about the trip, and I asked for the community to consider supporting the trip financially. I shared in the post how much money I needed to go on the trip, and I mentioned a STRETCH goal of $5,000 to help with a special project in Guatemala. Honestly, it felt awkward asking for these things, and I didn’t know what to expect.
My post went live at 5 AM EST.
At 11 AM EST, I received an email from an old college friend indicating that he and his wife wanted to donate the entire amount – the cost of the trip plus $5,000!
That’s right. In 6 hours, God provided for my “big ask.”
I was floored and flabbergasted. I honestly didn’t know hot to respond. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen everyday.
I really believed that $5,000 was a big STRETCH. When I spoke with our high school youth pastor about the goal, he said okay, but he indicated that he didn’t think that was possible. When I called him up yesterday afternoon to share the news, I think he nearly fell off his chair (I’m not sure if he was sitting or not).
I think sometimes we short sell God. Our faith in God is puny. It’s like saying, “God, give me a glass of water.” When in reality, God can give us the whole ocean. It’s like saying, “God, I need a few dollars.” When in reality, God owns the mint where money is made. It’s like saying, “God, help the Cubs win the World Series.” Oh maybe, this doesn’t always work out. Just kidding – of course.
You get the idea. I’m discovering that God has way bigger plans and dreams for us than we realize. We set the bar way too low when it comes to asking God the big questions and when it comes to believing what God can do in our lives. We need to learn to have great expectations!
Throughout the day, I received other messages of encouragement with indications of additional support. My shock continued throughout the day.
So where does that leave me?
I’m going back to the drawing board. I’ll get back to you with more details on how The Stretched Community can join together to do something great in Guatemala. Stay tuned for more details to follow.
In the meantime, how have you seen God respond to your “big ask” questions? In what ways do you need to expand your thinking to get in line with a God-sized response? How big is your God?