I want to see God do great things! I yearn for it. I pray into it regularly. I see and experience how powerful He is in Scripture and I want to see His power show up in our world today! Some might call me passionate or overbearing, but I do not want the size of my prayers to dishonor His great and glorious majesty by being too puny, too weak, too small, or too safe.
As I was praying during my twenty-minute time slot today, I caught myself going back to that familiar theme, yearning for God to do great things.
I asked Him to make GENESIS a church that reaches lost people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I prayed for the salvation of hundreds and thousands of men and women in 2019. I begged God for revival in this region! I prayed that my family would get to see God move in mighty ways with the time that we have left on this earth.
Then, as I was praying, I was reminded of a great quote from missionary William Carey.
He said, “Expect great things FROM God. Attempt great things FOR God.”
I was so convicted.
In some ways, getting to the point where I passionately yearn for God to do great things is only half the battle. I realized that it is not that difficult to sit in the safety of my home, praying passionately that God will do great things through someone else.
This question hit me hard: Am I ready and willing to leave the safety and security of my home to be used by God myself? Would I say yes to stepping out into the unknown? Would I risk the kind of hunger, bodily harm, financial hardship, lack of fruit, strained relationships, and disapproving opinions that Carey experienced in order to attempt something great for the Lord?
Like Carey, I long to see God do great things through His people. But when it comes down to actually doing those things, I think I assume God will use someone else.
What if He wants to use me? What if He wants to use you? What if God wants you and I to move beyond watching from the sidelines and actually accept His call to get into the game?
Sure, it may be safer to cheer from the sidelines, but God does not call us to be spectators! It’s clear in Scripture that the reason we have been raised to life, adopted into the family of God, and brought into the church of Jesus Christ is not to merely expect great things from God, but to be constantly willing, ready, and preparing ourselves to attempt great things for God! That is what mission is all about! And all of us are called to it (see Mt. 28:18-20 or Acts 1:8).
I know we all have fears and self-doubts, but could we ever attempt something too big for God? I don’t think so.
I am learning that if I want to see God move in mighty ways then I need to be willing to step into the unknown for Him. I need to be willing to be uncomfortable for Him. And I need to stop looking at how small I am and start looking at how big He is!
Do you want to see God move in great ways? Are you willing to be a part of it?
