Encounters with God are God-Sized

Today’s reading to me was a little similar to yesterday’s. Anything God calls us to do will be impossible by our own standards. And obviously reading the Bible shows so many examples of Gods power and the effect it has on people. Once they see what God does they worship him. I pray that we’re more open to hearing God in his crazy and impossible will and also willing to act on it.

Team Charlie/Don/Brian/Ciara

From Charlie:

I am a bit disturb by today lesson. It is as Don also said yesterday about focusing on the smaller things in life.

The Blackaby seems to emphasize the idea that when we encounter God and ask to do something, it is always God-sized works. It must always be something obviously only God can accomplish and it could be used to show to the non-believers that it is truly God doing and bring them to God. I think the Blackaby also seems to imply that the reason why we don’t attract more non-believers is because people don’t see these God-sized works being accomplish because the believers do not have enough faith to take on these works.

I feel that this makes it seems that God is a showman and all His works would be grand works must be flashy. They dismissed the many subtle miracles of every day life that God do for us and involve us in. We have faith in Him and we experience Him and feel his hands in our developments but somehow we also need some proof we can point to that say, here is God? I feel this minimizes God. I think God is so much more than that. He may have big plans for some of us but He also has many small plans for the rest of us and in fact for most of us He only ask that we seek Him and obey His will.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) The Lord ask of us simply that we persevere and keep our eyes on Him and don’t let unbelieve and sins and anything else that might hinder us from joining Him in eternity.

The Father also remind us that each of us has our own roles to play in the body of Christ. “Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.” (1 Cor 7:17). I also remember that God said in 1 Cor 12:29 that we can’t all be apostles, or all teachers, or all healers. Each of us has our parts. Would God call ALL of us to do God-Sized works?

As Peter said, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10). God ask us to use whatever gifts we have no matter how small to serve each others. That sounds to me like He honor the humble at least as much if not more than the grand gestures.

Also, I think there are many “small” miracles that happen every day if we just open our eyes to see them and have the discernment to recognize them. I think I saw one such “small” miracle the other day. I think if I tell some non-believers they would say it is a simple coincidence. If I tell a fervent believers, they will recognize that it is indeed God’s hands.

Maybe instead of looking only for the God-Sized miracles, we should look for the every day miracles that let us experience God’s love and grace and be closer to Him. As Blackaby said often in this book, it is not what we do to help God (since we cannot do anything better than Him nor can we accomplish any of His plans without His help anyway) that matters to the Father but rather that we have a deeper loving relationship with Him. His plan for us is to be more Christ-like and to be His “sons”. In the Lord’s prayer and in our daily prayer we call to God as “Our Father” – we are striving not to just be like His son Jesus Christ but to literally be His sons. That’s His purpose for us and that probably doesn’t require grand gestures or God-sized deeds.

Father, I look for your presence all around me and I thank You for all the miracles that You grant me each day. When I look for You with a loving heart that seek You constantly, I believe that I will see all those miracles that perform for my sake that deepen my relationship with You. I don’t need to experience God-Sized miracles. I’m quite content with small and personal interactions between us!

Also a follow up from Brother Don:

There are two things I want to point out in the reading, just to expand a little on Charlie’s awesome pointhttps://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/svg/1f44d.svg First, this statement: “The reason much of the world is not being attracted to Christ and to His church is that God’s people lack the faith to attempt things only God can do.” I think I know what he might be trying to say here, and although this may be true at times, it seems to me that “much” of the world is not attracted to Christ because we are innately sinful! “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned,” (1 Cor 2:14). Attraction to Christ is more contingent upon God’s work in a person’s heart than on the faith of the church. I do admit that a lack of faith will certainly have a negative impact at the temporal level, but ultimately salvation belongs to the Lord!
Second, a question: if God did not miraclously provide the money the church in Saskatoon felt it needed, would that indicate that they lacked faith? I would say not necessarily! Their faith is incredible, and what an awesome work of God! But had it turned out any other way- had they not made the $200,000 goal- this would not necessarily be a poor reflection of their faith. Perhaps God would redirect them, or even test their faith… there are many ways in which God works. 
Lord, thank You so much for the way in which You continue to reveal Your purposes and Your ways to each of is in this study! I pray that we would be obedient to Your calling in our lives, to be faithful in even the little things, realizing that ultimately these are what make up the bigger things. All that we do has eternal implications- help us, by Your Spirit, to continually seek to honor You in all that we do. 

God’s assignment is God-size, and it could only be done through the power of God. It’s that most of the time, we often like to keep ourselves busy in our comfort zone serving God. However, seldom did we wait upon God to ask Him to lead us into His task. One of reason is that we often turn down task when it seems impossible to accomplish. Serving God inside of our comfort zone become a norm, sometimes it even gives a sense of false security that we are doing God’s work. In truth, God’s power in our weakness attract people and bring others into a deeper knowledge of God. Let’s take a step further to hear what are some grand task out there that God is intend to fulfill.