1801 This Is Bigger

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

You’re thinking from a human perspective, but God is working on something bigger than you can see here. Do you hear me? There’s more to this than you can see.

You’re putting limitations on this situation, while God in his unlimited power is at work in something bigger than you can fathom. You’re ready to settle in, surrender to resistance and give up the fight, while God is ready to push you on towards bigger places than you are right now. You’re frustrated with what you see happening, but my sister, you simply cannot see ALL that is happening. Your sight and understanding is so incredibly limited so faith will be required here.

God has been speaking 2 words to me: Nahhhhh, bigger. This is bigger than you think and I’m bigger than you’ve allowed me to be.

Isaiah 55: 8-9 VOICE, “
8 My intentions are not always yours, and I do not go about things as you do. My thoughts and My ways are above and beyond you, just as heaven is far from your reach here on earth.”

Sitting in your smallness, this seems overwhelming, impossible and pointless. But, my friend, you have a great BIG God who’s eye is on you while he holds the entire world in his mighty and capable hands. You cannot see what he sees, and you’re not supposed to.

Now, he’s asking you to trust that whatever you’re in the middle of right now, it’s actually so much bigger than you realize and his power is over it all.

What you SEE God doing in your life is a row boat in comparison to the ark he is actually leading you to. A row boat is tiny with extreme limitations. You’re not going far in that and you’re not taking very much with you. An ark is massive boat with the capacity for so much more. That’s what God is doing here … MORE.

Think about your current struggle, your current uncertainty. Now, imagine God working in it to do something big and beautiful. Can you imagine that? See it. Nahhhhh, bigger. It’s even bigger than that. Even more beautiful. Honey, his work is eternal. It’s beyond the limitations of this world.

Ephesians 3:20 MSG, “God can do ANYTHING, far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

And while you can’t see it right now, that’s what he’s actually doing in your circumstances. He’s doing more. And that’s what he’s calling you to … MORE.

What you have imagined as your purpose is a row boat in comparison to the ark you were created for. But the truth is, when you’re without a boat and you know you need to get upstream, a row boat sounds pretty darn good. And so, we start praying for a row boat. We start trying to negotiate our way into getting it right now. And dang do we ever get disappointed when it doesn’t work.

Why isn’t this working? I’m talking about your specific situation. WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING FOR YOU? Why is it everything you try is met with resistance? Why is every door closed? Why is every answer no?

Could it be because this is bigger than you think? Could it be because God is directing you to something bigger than you’re about to settle for? Could it be that you are being protected in this time of disappointment?

We ask for God’s will in our life, but we sure don’t like it when that results in a series of no’s. Why can’t this just work? Why can’t I just get a break? Why can’t this little thing just come together? Why am I left here waiting?

Oh yeah, because God is working on something BIGGER.

Honey, if that little thing comes together you’ll just settle right there and miss what God ultimately has for you. Hear him today … “Nahhhhh, bigger!” This is row boat stuff you’re begging me for, but I made you for ark stuff.

Imagine being Noah. You can read his story in Genesis 6-9. Noah is the man God chose to save his creation through. Only the people and the animals Noah was able to fit on the boat he built would survive the flood. So for over 100 years, Noah worked on the same project, building this one boat … during a drought none the less.

That’s like my worst nightmare. A 100 year long project. I like 1 hour projects. I like starting and finishing something within the same day. I lose interest fast. I start chasing squirrels and forget why I am where I am. So I will often settle for little projects I can whip out fast while avoiding the bigger projects God designed me for.

What big project are you avoiding? What bigger plan have you been delaying by chasing squirrels? You’ve been busying yourself with little things as a distraction from the big thing God is calling you to. And today you hear it loud and clear, “nahhhhhhhh, bigger.” Dig in girl, what you’re being called to is going to take some time. Are you willing to stick with it?

Genesis 6: 14-16 God said: “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Leave an 18 inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side and build three decks inside the boat – lower, middle and upper.”

I find this genuinely interesting, do you know what the name Noah means? It means REST. So, God chooses the man named for rest to build the largest boat that had ever been built, and he knew it would take him over 100 years of non-stop work.

Did you know you can be at rest while working?

Did you know it’s possible to do what needs to be done without being completely stressed out? This is the way God works.

If you’re stressed in your work and always exhausted, perhaps you should ask God to help you work in his way.

God has some BIG work for you to do, work that’s going to take a long time, so it’s important for you to discover the peace in this journey and learn how to work as Noah did. Your freaking out and dreading the work is totally optional. God has provided everything you need to do this and do it well. Your delaying however will not help.

Noah worked. He kept working. Scripture never tells of him stressing. Scripture never tells of him breaking down under pressure. It never tells of him complaining. But I bet he had bad days. I bet there were days it all felt overwhelming. I bet there were days he questioned the point in all this work in building a boat when he had never even seen rain.

But do you know what Noah shows us so clearly … he shows us to STOP CUTTING CORNERS AND SETTLING SHORT OF WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO DO.

Verse 22, “So Noah did everything EXACTLY as God had commanded him.”

We don’t see him cutting corners. We don’t see him lessening God’s plan and settling for a little less.

How tempting it must have been on year 80 to say, how about a 2 story boat instead of 3 story? How about we make this a little smaller than original plans to just be done already? Nope, he did just as God had told him without settling for less, and that was important.

Scientists estimate there were 35,000 animal species on Earth which needed to be saved. To put that into perspective, consider this … the San Diego zoo is huge, but it only has 680 species of animals. But God’s plans were for 35,000 species and Noah’s big boat would be their home to escape the coming flood. Multiply that by 2 so they could reproduce, and you need a boat that can hold 70,000 animals. Guess what scientists have also found? Based on the specific instructions and dimensions given by God for the ark, it would not only hold 70,000 animals, but it would FLOAT.

If Noah would have cut corners, rushed the process and settled for less, there may not have been room for the hippo, y’all! Our world today would have been void of that glorious plump, chunky creation! But Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

MORAL OF THE STORY: GOD KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING, and what he is doing is BIG.

Invest the time and trust God will not allow a day of your effort to be wasted. Trust even when it seems you’re getting nowhere, God is working in the details for his divine plan in your life. And when you wish this could just be easier, remember God is doing something bigger.

Maybe we’re struggling to believe because we’ve made our God small, and today he’s saying, “nahhhhh, bigger.” I’m bigger than you believe me to be. My power is greater than you’ve assumed. My plan is better than you’ve imagined. I say BIGGER!!!!

Let God out of that box sister. He will guide you if you ask him. He will strengthen you for your work today. He will provide every single thing you need. He is not limited. He is not backed in a corner. He is not stuck or frustrated. HE IS BIGGER THAN THAT.

What God was doing back then in having Noah build the ark was bigger than he could ever ask, think, or imagine. But Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded. He didn’t understand it. He had no proof it would float. He had no way of controlling 35,000 species of animals to get them on the boat. But Noah was obedient in surrendering to the calling of God, not trying to control it, understand it, or limit it.

Be the girl God can trust to not cut corners. Be the one he can trust to give her best effort. Be the one he can count on to follow through. Be the one he knows will refuse to settle for little, settle for easy, or settle for less.

Why? Because God has clearly said, “Nahhhhh, bigger!”

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com