“Goodness”

While going through some of my things, trying to organize and size some things down, I found an interesting note that I wrote a while back. As I read my note I began to reflect on the goodness of God…

I think sometimes in the midst of circumstances or daily life we forget to worship God and recognize His goodness. A person can believe for a long time and they cannot understand why an answer has not come. I believe that the main reason an answer is delayed is due to the fact that we as people, forget to worship God and remember His goodness. Even in the midst of circumstances God is good. If we would worship God in spite of circumstances I believe that the breakthroughs that people are waiting for would come.

God is faithful and good all of the time. If, as God's people, we would recognize that God is bigger than our issues and just worship Him in the midst of our issues, how much more would we see the things of God in our lives? I believe greater breakthrough would come as we magnify God. What do you do when you have prayed and done all that you know to do in a situation or circumstance? You stand for what you need yet nothing seems to be changing… Maybe we are not able to see God's goodness in the midst of it all. Maybe as we glorify God the circumstances will fade away. God's goodness remains regardless of our situations.

Really, if we see and believe in the goodness of God we would be more excited to worship Him. The good book says that He inhabits the praises of His people. We want His presence in the middle of whatever is in our life. God is the one who makes the difference. When God inhabits the praises of His people that is where He is free to move in our lives. When we praise Him for His everlasting, never-changing goodness that is where God moves freely.

Take some time to worship God for His goodness. There is always something negative to focus on, make a new choice to focus on His goodness. You will be amazed as you see God show you His goodness as He is free to move in every circumstance you face. As we magnify Him everything else fades away. As we allow God to be bigger in our lives, then the circumstances are forced to change. God is good. It is easy to spend so much time thinking of what could be, what should be or even what we hope things will be. For me, I want to spend more time focusing on God's goodness because I know as I magnify Him He is free to move in every area of my life and free to show His goodness, His faithfulness, His love, His mercy, His grace, His justice… What is it in your life that you need to see God's goodness? Begin to magnify and praise Him and see how God will come in to meet you right where you are.

“Dream”

Over the past couple of months I have been working on an event for the Ladies Ministry titled "Dream". We had our "Dream" event a few weeks ago and it was great! We were able to launch our latest series and we have begun to study Hannah and the details of "entrusting your dreams to God". With all the focus on dreams it has got me thinking a lot about what that means or what that even looks like.

Too many times I think we give up on our dreams or shrink back on pursuing our dreams because we buy in to the lies of the enemy. Are we afraid of something? Are we unable to trust that God is big enough for our dream? Do we doubt the possibility of the dreams we really have in our hearts? I think if we are honest with ourselves we would see that we have most likely hit each one of these places at one time or another. After posing these questions to myself I began to hear the Holy Spirit encourage me once again with a new set of questions. Doesn't God have bigger dreams for us than we even have for ourselves (1 Cor 2:9)? Isn't God, God Almighty (Gen 17:1-2)? Doesn't the greater one live on the inside of us (1 John 4:4)?

This process of questioning brought me to a new place as I began to remember some truths I had heard before; for starters, the issue of God being big enough for what I have dreamed of. Something interesting about God is that He is already as big as He is ever going to be… God is already as big as He needs to be. The question is not, "is God big enough?" The question is: "Is God big enough inside of me, inside of you?"! We need to magnify God in us, in our situations and in our dreams (Ps 34:3). We need to see God as bigger than anything we face or feel.

Just a thought, but didn't God reveal Himself as God Almighty? God revealed Himself as El Shaddai to Abram, to His people and to us. When God revealed His heart and His character as El Shaddai, He clearly let it be known that He was able to handle any situation that confronts His people; that He was self sufficient, almighty, able. God is saying that He is bigger than any obstacle and that He will always fulfill His promises to us despite any problem!

Be encouraged to pursue the dreams that God wants to birth in and through your life (Phil 3:14)! Magnify God in you – He is big enough, He is able, He is Almighty! Dream big and know that God is with you.

“Gathering”

Over the past couple of days I have watched my son become attached to some of his stuffed animals. I realized today that my son (Isaiah) would try to gather up ALL of the toys within the area that he could see. As Isaiah would reach for each toy he began to get very frustrated with the fact that his arms got full very quickly and he had no more room for the ones that he still wanted to hold. Isaiah could not pick and choose; he wanted to hold them all! As I have noticed him doing this my thinking went to how amazing it was that Isaiah did not want to leave out any of the toys, it was impressive that he wanted to gather them all up. But, today, something struck me when I watched him become frustrated. How often do we do this in our lives and ministries? We try to gather up more than we should and only end in frustration.

The concept of handling everything seems admirable and is even taught in our culture as the way it is to be and we label it responsibility. How productive can we really be if we are frustrated? How productive can we be if our arms are too full to reach for the details God is calling our attention to? For me, I have been working towards getting things off of my plate in order to make room for the things God is directing my undivided attention to. Not that any of the things I am doing are "bad" but they are overloading me to the point of interfering with other important things. I have seen for a while that God has placed people around me that are capable of doing things that I have always done and that I need to open the door to them to do new things in their life. Not only is it what they are called to but it frees me to do more precisely what I am called to. How interesting that my choice to not overload not only helps me avoid frustration but will also bless another simultaneously.

I love seeing Isaiah gather all of his toys and love each one of them with a big giant hug. However, there will come a day when he will have to choose which ones to hold and which ones to let another hold. The frustration we experience when we are overloaded is not because we are inadequate or irresponsible. Maybe we just need to choose which "toys" to lie down and bless another with and which "toys" to put our undivided attention on. God is specific and strategic, always having the big picture in mind. As each of us focus in, become more specific and precise, it is going to be amazing to see all that God brings together for His Glory! Let's make sure we are hugging the right toys and not walking in frustration.