My God is so BIG!

by Sarah Stirman
on heartlight

It's Vacation Bible School season. A magical time of Kool-Aid and cookies, sheep made from juice boxes and cotton balls, and lots of marching and singing about being in the Lord's army. Plump little fists will raise the scrawny arms they are attached to as little souls sing, with gusto, "My God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY!! There's NOTHING my God cannot do!" We will all smile and sing with them. But do we really believe it?

As my children's faith began to emerge, I would answer very typical questions as they tried to comprehend the incomprehensible: the bigness of God. "Mom, is God bigger than our house? Bigger than that big coliseum? NO WAY!!" Of course, we impress on our children that God is bigger than the biggest mountain and all of the oceans of the world. In fact, He's bigger than the whole world, bigger than the universe.

One of John's statements has, for me, the ultimate trump card in the bigness of God: "For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything" (1 John 3:20).

I pray that is as encouraging to you as it is to me. I struggle and wrestle with this earthly vessel and all of the nature of the flesh that comes with it. I have realized I simply can't do it, I simply can't win that battle. Then the good news: God is greater than my heart.

• God is greater than the selfish wants and wishes of my heart: all of the need to have MY schedule go MY way instead of listening to God's leading.
  
• God is greater than the regrets and worries that sometimes overtake my heart: the "what if" or "if only ..." that starts an enormous snowball of doubt and mistrust.
  
• God is greater than the stones of unforgiveness that I drag around in my heart.
  
• God is greater than my heart's need for approval and applause on this earth.
  

The list goes on and you may have your own list. That God is greater than my heart is gloriously good news to me. However, the difficult part is that God gave me the option of allowing Him to be big in my life or not.

At spiritual peaks in my life, when I am resting in the shadow of His wing, I can see that I only know and see the hem of His holy garments. I am reminded that to simply abide in Him and His love will allow Him to do far greater things with me than I would ever do on my own. But because my feet are still on this earth, I allow the "daily-ness" of life to burden and overwhelm me so much that eventually I confine the Lord to a shoe box in my mind, tucked away in a corner where I know He will be if I ever need Him (as if there is ever a moment on this earth that I DON'T need Him!!).

Oswald Chambers put it beautifully: "It is the dull, dreary, commonplace day, with commonplace duties and people, that kills the burning heart unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus."*

Abiding in Jesus! That is the secret! Jesus told us over and over that was the key to bearing fruit (John 15:1-17) and he responds to whatever it is I think I am doing on my own with this important reminder: "... apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Not "not very much," not "only a little," but "nothing" is exactly what I'm accomplishing when I'm not abiding in Him!
I will pray for my "daily-ness" to become abiding in Him. Then I will raise my fists and sing, "My God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY!! There's NOTHING my God cannot do!"

And in my heart I will know it to be true.

*Oswald Chambers quote from "My Utmost for His Highest", March 22.

(Author's note: I wrote this about 6 weeks ago. I really needed to be reminded of this -- is it okay for me to say that? Still praying for that "daily-ness" of abiding in Him!)