Tag: Hebrews

there’s nothing my God cannot do.

The mountains are his, the rivers are his,

the stars are His handiwork, too.

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty,

there’s nothing my God cannot do, for you!

Our 3-year-old is going around the house singing this song. She has a little squeaky voice and a bit of a lisp, and it is quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve heard in a while. We teach this song to children, but it is much more than a child’s song.  Maybe the thing that strikes me most about this song, is that the God it speaks of is not always the God I pray to.

Consider Hebrews 11:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

The writer of Hebrews spends the rest of the chapter pointing out men and women in the bible who were just like you or I, ordinary people who had faith in a great God.  But before he talks about these men and women he reminds us of a God who is much bigger than we understand.  A God who simply speaks and matter forms in all of its complexity to become the world we see around us….simply by the words of God. This is a big God, a God who is worth having faith in.

Sometimes, if we are honest, our god is too small to be the God spoken of in the bible. Sometimes, if I were honest, the God that I pray to looks more like my grandpa; you know, he’s always there to listen, and he really does care. He’s gonna fret over me when I’m done talking about my problems, and I am always welcome to sit with him, share a Werther’s candy….but beyond that there is not much he can do about my situation. Sometimes, the difference between my view of “God” and my Grandpa is very small.

Hebrews 11 begins by saying, “before I tell you about these men and women of faith, I want to remind you of the God who compels such faith. This God who takes nothing, and forms all that exists. This God not only hears your prayers, but can actually change situations and transform lives.  I want to have faith in this God. I want to live each day with a growing view of this God and a passion to expand this view to others I meet.

I’m learning that in order to continue with a big view of God in my life, I need to do 3 things.  1. I must stay centered in His Word. Much in the world around us tends to shrink a big view of God, feeding the lie that what we really need is a bigger view of ourselves and our own ability. But when I stand in the bible, my view of God expands, and helps create the faith that we read about in Hebrews 11.  2. I need a community, a smaller group of people who can remind me of God’s bigness when my vision becomes small. 3. I must be willing each day to take steps of faith, trusting in the greatness of God.  Because I put my faith in the God who speaks the universe into existence, Am I willing to pray big, expecting prayers,

am I willing to walk where I have never walked before,

am I willing to speak the truth in love,

and live as though I truly believe that God is so big, so strong and so mighty, and there is nothing my God cannot do.