Having Heart In A Sometimes Heartless World
Day 149 - Big Believing
Scripture focus: What is impossible for man is possible for God. Luke 18:27 GNB
One of the great mysteries of God to me is his patience. Perpetual relapse disheartens us all. In fact, some people say that a few people are "constitutionally incapable" of finding their freedom from addiction. At least that's what someone told me in reference to my friend who relapses with alarming regularity. I realize that this is an experienced perspective. I understand the concept in theory.
In my heart, I hear the words What is impossible for man is possible for God.
I'm a big believer in not working harder on someone else's recovery program than they themselves are willing to work. Without this boundary, I might fall into the pit of codependency. I embrace the concept of letting go and letting God.
In my heart, I hear the words What is impossible for man is possible for God.
Big believing reminds me to never judge who may or may not be constitutionally incapable. I don't get to write people off simply because they break my heart. Nor do I live with the illusion that I have something within me that will cause another person to wake up and smell the coffee. All sorts of impossible things are possible for God. This kind of big believing paired with an accurate appraisal of the one who is really doing the work means we can love large without going codependent. We can love with limits. In fact, we must love within the limits of our humanity and the limitless potential of God's power - or we're playing God.
Big believing requires that I not audaciously dare to attempt what only God can achieve. Big believing allows for room to hope and limits our need to control. But it must never limit our willingness to dream. Unfortunately, we get this big believing and big dreaming confused. Sometimes we start dreaming on behalf of others. Other times we get confused and think big dreams are about personal fulfillment and recognition.
What if we took a different tact? What if we realized that God is in the business of fulfilling big dreams and using people with only a modicum of belief to make it happen? Instead of beseeching God for a big dream that we think might be fun to achieve, why don't we ask God to show us our part in his story? We believe big when it comes to trusting God's purposes to prevail but we limit our need to decide what that dream looks like. We recognize that all sorts of cool stuff is happening, but we may not see clearly how our small, plodding, daily disciplines are vital to the completion of the mission. I may or may not have his prevailing purposes in mind when I dream big dreams. I accept and embrace the reality that my best intentions may be missing his mark. Cool. I get that. So if I pursue a big dream, and I figure out it was my dream not God's, I can let it go. I can move on without regret. But on the outside chance that our big dreams have collided in perfect harmony with God's prevailing purposes - we must continue to dream big. May you dream big today, trusting that faith the size of a mustard seed is plenty big enough for God to use.
What is impossible for man is possible with God.
Recommended reading: 2 Samuel 11 and 12 in the morning; John 16 in the evening
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