Diving in, Head First
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Isaiah 49:6,12
It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." They will come from afar-- some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan."
We human beings insist on limiting God, don’t we? We pray, “Please, God let me get that promotion.” That sounds like an appropriate prayer, but what if God’s plan is to bring an opportunity for a better, more fulfilling job into our realm. I know what I’m talking about, because I limit God all too often. The prayer we need to be praying, is one like the prayer of Jabez.
“1 Chronicles 4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested."
Jabez was an ancestor of Jesus. Not much is known about him, except that his name means, “sorrow; trouble.” His mother gave him that name because of the horrific pain she suffered during childbirth – perhaps he was breach. In any case he started out life with at least one strike against him. But he didn’t let that stop him. In fact, at some point he realized that only with God’s help, would he ever amount to anything; would his life ever have significance.
What a courageous prayer! Can you imagine if we lifted that prayer every single day – and really meant it – what our lives would be like! This is what God is telling Isaiah, though. “You’re thinking way too small. I’ve got great plans for you. Just open yourself up to them and obey.” That’s what God wants for us, too. He wants us to ask for more than we can imagine; for more than we could possibly achieve on our own. He wants to do great things for us, with us, through us.
The cautionary note here is that I tend to charge right on ahead – one of my friends chuckled recently and shook her head, “You just dive in the water head first.” She meant it as a compliment – a quality she admired. It is, though, a point of possible danger – spiritually, because what I fail to do sometimes is to NOT wait for God to reveal the how and the when! In other words, I don’t “finish” listening/discerning!
My prayer today is that you open yourself up to God’s abundant, extravagant plan to bless you indeed. And that you wait on Him to reveal that plan before you jump in the water.
Mary
