The Journey is too Great
Sometimes, God gives us more than we can handle.
I so often want to have everything handled, everything under control, everything simplified and managed and known.
Yet God gives more. More than I can handle, control, and manage.
And I don't mean problems. I mean blessing.
God gives more blessing than I can handle.
The blessing of marriage, of parenthood, of our dream of a season of overseas travel for service and education being fulfilled.
It's all being poured out at once, and I don't have enough hands to hold it all.
It's like, when God gives, he doesn't just give and say "Here you are, my child, this is what I have for you, enjoy it and go forth."
It's more like, when God gives, he says, "Here you are, my child, this is what I have for you, and I will sustain you going forth."
When God gives something, that's not the end of it. It's more like that's an invitation to press in to depend on Him further. Blessing from God is less like a given gift of something and more like an increased presence of Someone.
Yesterday, Christy was expressing some fear and doubt to me about everything we're doing. And it makes sense. What we're doing is kind of crazy. Every day is not a great day of faith; many days bring out the doubt.
But everything we're doing is because of blessing from God, and He will sustain us, including when we make plans while He has something different in mind.
The service at Bloom yesterday was one of those days where the message felt so specifically targeted to everything we needed to hear. Our fears and doubts were replaced with joy and hope. The message centered around 1 Kings 19, the story of Elijah at the point when everything was too much for him and he prayed to die.
But the angel of the Lord came and gave him what he needed: sustenance, provision, bread and water, and these words:
“Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
—I Kings 19:7b
This was such a reminder to us, that as we journey, the Lord is the one who sustains. He is faithful in provision—always—to give us what we need for the journey ahead. On the flipside, the journey ahead is too great for us, without receiving provision from the Lord.
Also, to spin some wordplay on this thing, the journey is also just too great! Great as in better than good. Which makes me a dork to say. But there is truly no better journey than with God. †
To subscribe to future posts, click here.
