Knocked over by God

You know those days when you are knocked over by the ways God works? I mean, you know we serve an amazing, awesome, incomprehensibly good God...and yet, there are days when we are still surprised by something he does, as if he's blown away our expectations. Well, duh, he's God; it's his job to blow away our expectations. So it makes me wonder: what is it we're expecting from God? Specifically, what do I expect from God? What do I expect to see him doing, in me, around me, through me? Are my expectations of him so easily blown away? Am I expecting too little of a God who is too big for me to understand? It makes me wonder, and it humbles me.

Our church service today was, again, incredible. Our speaker was a woman who's a missionary in Asia, and she came to share about the work God is doing in the country she works in. She shared amazing stories, and the things God was doing blew me away. We have an amazing Lord who is making his name famous throughout the world--are we being a part of that? Because someday, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and there will be people from every tribe and tongue in Heaven. I want to have had a part in that, to not be left behind in the work God is doing among all peoples. The lady who spoke today told of a family that she and her co-workers had shared the gospel with. Afterwards, this family asked, "Why didn't you come to tell us this before? If God loves us so much, why didn't you tell us before?" It is a question that haunted me. Are there people just waiting to be told how much God loves them? Actually, that's a silly question: I know there are. Here's a more serious question: Why aren't we telling them? What is stopping us from seriously telling someone how much God loves them, whether it is a long-time friend, a family member, a person across the street, a co-worker, or an isolated tribal person in Asia? People are waiting to hear...why are we so hesitant to share?

I admit it freely: my faith is often weak. I worry, I fear. But I have a God who is above my weaknesses, who's power actually works best through my weaknesses. So I want God to knock me over. But I don't want it to be because my expectations are too low. I want to dream big, to live extreme, to expect extreme things, and then to still watch God blow away every expectation, every prayer, I ever had. He's waiting to knock us over.

Are we ready for it?

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.
-Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT)