God IS Bigger

Recently, I attended my first-ever retreat with complete focus on digging deeper into God's Word, His presence, His will.  To be honest, I can't deny that part of me didn't want to go because it meant risking my vulnerability, my safe zone.  I've been belly-aching for years now how I don't like being alone and how I long to be in a relationship marriage.  Guess what I realized?  That goal means getting outside of my safe zone and being vulnerable - ouch!

Can we be honest here?  Anything in life requires stepping outside our walls and taking a leap of faith in the the loving arms of Christ Jesus - trusting He will catch us, carry us, and deliver us into WHATEVER the Father designed for us from eternity past (meaning before we were knit in the womb, took our first breath).  That's not very easy as it seems from the human lens.  Why?  Well, sin in the world darkens the view we could have of His plan for us - shadows the full picture.  We find ourselves questioning what the picture really is because we just can't make it out due to the shadows sin places on that masterpiece the Master has lovingly created (try to think of the late artist Thomas Kincade, Painter of Light).

The Sea of Tranquility

As one who has walked through some pretty dark times in my life, I know how hard it is to see the light that is just in the recesses of the dark areas - at the end of the tunnel - behind the shadows.  That is what the enemy enjoys so much about sin - it changes our perspectives just enough to have us doubt God, to doubt ourselves/our motives, to cower in fear at the unknowns.  The enemy is truly a master at creating strife and having us believe all the False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR) around us.

At the same time this is all going on, we forget how BIG our God really is.  I mean, come on - this is the same God that merely spoke a word and "IT WAS".  This is the same God Who has known EVERYTHING from the beginning to the end, He IS the Alpha and Omega.  There is NOTHING He doesn't know already.  Let me share just a few of those things that were shared at the retreat I mentioned at the beginning of this blog that the leader of our conference shared with us:

Our God Spoke the World into Existence – Words Have Power - Genesis 1
Our God Can Turn a Blessing into a Curse - Deuteronomy 23:5
Our God produced so much rain, He flooded the whole earth - Genesis 6-9
Our God can take something horrible and turn it into something good - Genesis 50:20
Our God blessed women who were passed the age of giving birth but gave them children - Gen 21:1-21, Luke 1
Our God caused plagues over the Egyptians until they set his people free.- Exodus 12-14
Our God blew a wind strong enough to part the Red Sea - Exodus 14
Our God led a nation through the desert for 40 years and they never had to replace a sandal - Exodus 15-35
Our God can make a donkey speak - Number 22
Our God gave victory to a small army by simply marching around the walls of a city – Joshua 6
Our God used a prostitute to allow the Israelites to gain control of the Promised Land and then used her in the lineage of Jesus Christ – Joshua 6
Our God made the sun stand still - Joshua 10
Our God searches the earth to prove Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His - II Chronicles 16:9
Our God raised dry bones up to form an army - Ezra 37

Our God can OVERCOME your enemies - Psalm 18:16-19
Our God controls the earth, all sea monsters, ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, and powerful winds - Psalm 148:7-8
Our God made the sun travel backwards - Isaiah 38
Our God is great in power, punishing the guilty – Nahum 1:2
Our God’s path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet – Nahum 1:3
Our God rebukes the sea and it dries up - Nahum 1:2-4

Our God has every hair on your headed numbered as well as for anyone that has ever taken breath from the beginning of time to the end of time – Psalm 139

Our God knows the days allotted to you in this life like he has for every person who has ever taken a breath.
Our God has the power to impregnate a virgin with a Savior
Our God through Christ brought the dead to life and healed the sick.
Our God’s power fulfilled every prophesy foretold about the Savior
Our God’s power was displayed through Jesus Christ when he walked on the water, when he calmed the storm.
Our God’s power can excise demons
Our God’s power conquered death in Jesus Christ, Jesus lives again, and that power, that Savior lives inside You!

So, if our God can do all that and so much more does it not make sense to just hold onto the peace that comes from such knowledge?  Is it not more calming to our spirits to rest in Him and know that He is God and will not allow anything to harm us?  Yes, easier to say/write than to practice, but that is exactly what we are to do: PRACTICE (Pray, Recite, Act, Confess, Trust, Impart/Share, Counsel, Edify) ---

  - PRAY: before starting the day, spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word

- RECITE: meditate and memorize Scripture that He leads you to 

- ACT: live out His Word before men.  You might be the only image of Christ they witness.

- CONFESS: when we fall, and we will - confess right then to the Father and He will forgive 

- TRUST: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Prov. 3:5  We can't trust the hearts or intentions of others in this sinful world, but we can trust God because He only desires us to draw near and be His - He will handle all else

- IMPART/SHARE: As we become more and more like Christ, we are to impart that change (share the change) with others [go back to ACT]

- COUNSEL: seek counsel when the shadows come and shine the Word on those things that are trying to cause strife to overpower

- EDIFY: build one another up with loving words, actions and remember that words aren't always needed. Hush, Hug & Hang around :)

Be blessed and be a blessing ~