Believe God for Bigger
I spent my entire life putting my trust in man and myself and the heartbreak, the struggles, and the disappointments whew overwhelming to say the least. Thankfully God is a forgiving Father, a patient Father, and a loving Father. Because of all the let downs, I seem to have put boundaries up, ceilings, limits on God and He had to remind me of who He is and what He is capable of. And know that I or you will never be able to see just how magnificent He is. But He gave me this phrase, Believe God For Bigger and I intend to do so.
Believe God For Bigger
This is my phrase for 2024. We know that He can do the impossible. Cause the lame man to walk. He raised people from the dead. He parted the Red Sea. I have been reading through the Psalms and many of the chapters reflect on what amazing things God did for the Israelites.
My founding scripture for 2024 is Psalm 95:1-7 with a focus on verses 3-5.
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
harden not your heart
Our Heavenly Father the Creator who made the heavens and the earth, the galaxies, painted the skies, and created us in His Image should remind us that our asks are too small. When our asks are small that shows doubt, lack of faith, and that you do not trust Him to show up. Now I am not saying go and ask for a Lamborghini or a billion dollars, that is fleshy and superficial. Your asks should be aligned with God’s word and the work for the Kingdom.
When our asks are small, it shows that you think you are unworthy for God to love you with blessings. Yes, we are sinners and the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy but thank God for Jesus who came that we might have life more abundantly John 10:10.
Ephesians 1:3-11 is a great reminder that we were made for more than we think. We are chosen, here for a purpose, and our lives should glorify the Lord. So when we ask, our asks should be so great that only God can fulfill it and He will get all the Glory.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us[a] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known[b] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
Living Life in Ambiguity
Over the past 15 months, I was in a wilderness season and when you are in a wilderness season, you have to sit and trust God. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I am the type that always has something going on, always on the move making moves, yet that season caused me to sit and be still. At first very awkward but then I loved every minute of it. I reveled in it. I spent my days soaking in His presence and His word. The transformation was wild because if you have been following me for the past 10 years, you know this blog was called the Bougie Black Blogger. The music I listened to changed, the shows I loved to watch I couldn’t stand anymore, the things I did I didn’t do anymore. Check out my book, Living With God in the Season of Ambiguity.
The wilderness season was all about preparation, patience, and capacity building. My capacity needed more room mentally emotionally, physically, professionally, and spiritually. Either God was going to make it bigger or He was going to move things to make space. And that is what He did, removed things and made it a little bigger. God was calling me to a new level if you will, new territory. He gave me a ministry, a few actually.
The preparation/training was all about studying His word, applying it to my life, and getting ready to go and share that with the world. God was teaching me about using and applying wisdom in everything I do and partnering with Him because He is the one who will bless it. Patience, whew, being the only child and being used to relying solely on myself allowed me to do things when I wanted. I was so resourceful I didn’t need others. God was like you need others and you now have to slow down and allow things to flow. We aren’t rushing greatness, we don’t want to jump the gun, we don’t want to disqualify ourselves because we are operating out of the rushed life. We have access to so much so quickly that we think that is how life is supposed to be.
Remember that movie Click, Adam Sandler couldn’t stand having to work so much so he got a remote control to fast-forward through all the boring times. Ultimately, he fast-forwarded too much missing so much. The message was to cherish the time you had even if it is mundane.
There Is a Time for Everything
Many times we try to rush our seasons, ignore them, or try to find hacks, but in Ecc 3, it tells us there is a time for everything.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
I do not know what season you are in but in every season I want to remind you to Believe God For Bigger. Trust in His will that He has for your life. God will blow your mind!
As I transition to the next season, I am reminding myself to take the limits off of God and let Him do His work. I am entering my 8th year in Dallas and a lot of things are going to happen I am excited to see what He does as I enjoy and embrace the journey.
If 7 is completion, what is 8? It’s the start of a new season. It is funny how my year 7 was as if God was wrapping up loose ends, closing out what I thought life was and how to live it. I enter year 8 with a new non-profit ministry where I am so excited to share God’s word through creativity and service. As I leave the season of ambiguity and enter into the season of surrendering to God’s will and way, there is no other choice than to believe God for bigger.
Prayer
I pray sis that you too will remove the limits you have placed on God. I pray that you surrender your life to His will allowing Him to do a good work in you. I pray that He blows your mind as you step into 2024. I grateful for you sis, you are here to do good works and be fruitful and multiply. I pray that you use your gifts to glorify God.
Bless you
CicelyRenee
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