Finding Big Things in Simplicity

"It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others."—Ephesians 2:10, Living

There has got to be more. Something big. Something as huge as God. Something as bold and spicy as William Carey’s declaration of “Expect great things for God; attempt great things for God.” Even the more common translations of this Ephesians verse imply that it’s go big or go home: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (ESV). And besides, this is America. Come on!

Then there’s the day after day of the routine of life. It can all be very good, and often quite busy, but it can make that living large for God thing seem, well, maybe only for super saints or super heroes from church history, or for some other day. Not me. Not here. Not this week. “I’ll check in with you later, God, when I’m feeling more inspired, OK? Besides, I need coffee.”…

….I stop there just about every workday morning for good coffee at a good price. And over time, you recognize the same faces that show up at the same time every day, and get to know something about the folks who run the place—surface stuff like their names, and a bit about their families, and what’s happening in the world and with the weather. Quick in, quick out. 

Except on this particular morning, when I wasn’t feeling the “go big for God” at all, as I was paying and having my coffee card stamped as usual, one of the folks who runs the place suddenly leaned in and said: “I hear you are religious. Would you please pray for my husband and my daughter…” and she went on in detail about their names, their needs for prayer, and that it had all come down like a ton of bricks on her world on the same day.

You want to protest that you're not really "religious" but rather pursuing something better than that. Instead, you wisely cut to the chase of what really matters right now: “Well, of course!” And she drives the urgency of her request home by writing down their names on a piece of paper and tucking it in my hand.

Out the door and settling back in my car, a sense that Jesus’ reply to “I’ll check in with you later when I’m feeling more inspired…I need coffee,” had been, “Wait up, I’m coming with you.”

And then, an overwhelming sense that this particular prayer request could use many more people coming around to lift Up this family, and so a quick text SOS. And then, “ping”…an incoming text with another and different kind of urgent prayer request. “Please believe with us!”

I want to say that Jesus was chuckling to Himself as I buckled up and drove off. Is it OK to say that? Because I think He was, because that shockingly humble moment that immediately followed wondering aloud where all the “great things for God” were in my life made me laugh, especially in amazement at the wonder of Him and how He works in His larger than my-little-world life.

Another box broken by the uncontainable God of creation. And it was good. And it will, undoubtedly, have to be busted open again many times more in the days and years ahead. Because even if William Carey is right, and even if this is America where everything is supersized, the God I purpose to walk with is so huge that He often works in and through us most powerfully not when we do something really, really big—the kind of “big” I have in mind, anyway—but in the small, everyday things, and when we go back one more time to a simple Gospel of staying faithful and trusting, and being available…"that we should spend these lives in helping others," even when the routine tries to get you to say, “I’ll check in with you later when I’m feeling more inspired.”

“Go back to those Gospels over and over again. God’s word is inexhaustible and can always deepen your understanding and belief. We don’t limit ourselves in conversation with our loved ones because we 'talked to them already' and neither should we limit ourselves in the reading of the Bible because we 'read it already.' It is as dynamic and deep, in fact even deeper, than any person we seek to know. Ask questions of Jesus in Scripture. Ask about His character. Ask about His values. Ask about His life. Ask about His priorities. Ask about His weaknesses. And let Scripture respond to you. The answers you find will lead you to want to know more, to be closer, to be with Jesus. And the more we are with Him, the more we will find ourselves wanting to and learning to be like Him.”—Barnabas Piper, from “Help My Unbelief”