A couple weeks ago a friend told me that it was often during the times that we expected God to do the least that He in fact does the most. I had been complaining about my upcoming year at grad school and how I couldn't wait to finish and move on to the next, more interesting stage of my life. Her reminder resonated with me, and I have been thinking about it since, knowing that I needed to hear it and to quit limiting God to my own feeble imagination. Then, this week at Shannon Forest Christian School, a couple of the women who work in the office were making bulletin boards, and this was one of the verses they chose to display on the wall:
I was immediately reminded of the advice I had been given weeks before, and I thought "I need to memorize this verse and plaster it all over my house, car, and office, so that I will remember that God has big plans for me even though I forget sometimes." What an awesome God we have that even the furthest reaches of our imagination cannot even begin to understand what God wants to do in our lives! Of course, He reminds us of this throughout the Bible, in verses like Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Or Ephesians 2:10,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Jesus promises to do great things through his disciples in John 14:12-14 saying, "
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."
I think I need an attitude adjustment, as my dad says. I need to quit thinking about the upcoming year in negative terms and start trusting that God has something amazing in store for me. I can't limit God to my own human limitations; instead, I should trust him to do more than I could ever even begin to imagine.
When thou art present, evil cannot abide;
In thy fellowship is fullness of joy,
Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,
By thy side no fears disturb,
no apprehensions banish rest of mind,
With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance;
Make me meet, through repentance, for thine indwelling.
Nothing exceeds thy power,
Nothing is too great for thee to do,
Nothing too good for thee to give.
Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love,
limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name...
I ask great things of a great God.
(The Valley of Vision)
You should never read while standing or after having finished a meal. Instead, you should wash your face with cold water and take your book outdoors, where you can read it in the bosom of nature - and aloud, for the sound of the voice facilitates the penetration of ideas. But most important, you should have the right spiritual disposition. Instead of responding passively to the text, you should throw yourself into it, seize its meaning, and apply it to your own life. "We must relate everything we read to our 'I,' reflect on everything from our personal point of view, and never lose sight of the consideration that study makes us freer and more independent, and that it should help us find an outlet for the expression of our heart and mind." (Robert Darnton from Johann Adam Berg's manual on reading)
