Tonight my husband and I were sitting on our front porch watching thousands of fireflies flicker across the field and sparkle in the trees like Christmas lights. All their glows were sporadic and unpredictable just like a blanket of snow shimmer in the sun.
I love the way these amazing and uniquely designed creatures radiate God’s glory. Just as we would never be able to predict the timing and arrangement of all the fascinating lights displayed across the field, so we will never fully be able to grasp and comprehend all of God’s greatness. We will be learning new things about God – seeing new wonders and new displays of His character both now and for all of eternity.
Do you ever feel like you have God all figured out or have fallen into a comfortable, acceptable view of Him? One that makes sense with the things you’ve seen or experienced? You read of miracles in the Bible but assume God must not work like that anymore. Or, you read a verse like this one from Mark 16:17-18…
17 And these signs will follow those who [a]believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[b] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
…or this verse from John 14:12-14…
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
…and think to yourself…
Must be God had some hidden or poetic meaning behind that verse because I’ve never experienced anything like that.
…that is, until you DO experience something like that, but it was in a distant country long ago and you second-guess if it really happened because the distractions of materialism, the culture of skepticism, and a world full of pain have buried the memories of your experience into a pretty little box where the Spirit of God awaits to be remembered and unleashed, scattered across the earth like lightning bugs filling the night sky and you remember once again, this is what I was made to do, this was where I came alive.
What if our lives really looked like the life of Jesus? What if we contended for all the promises of God – reminded Him of what He said – that we would do what Jesus did and do even greater works. Could it be that Satan’s biggest tactic is to make us think we have God all figured out? To rest in our comfortable, comprehendible, small view of God? Because if Satan can’t keep us trapped there, then he’s not just dealing with One Jesus, but millions of people filled with Jesus – the Holy Spirit – spread across the fields of this world like lightning bugs in a dark world radiating the glory of God.
This post has been inspired by the book Death-Defying Faith by Peter Pretorius.