He Has Only Begun To Show His Greatness

As I sit here on May 17th and think back on where God has led us, I can only thank Him for all of the sovereign protection and victories He has given us as a family through the many hardships and circumstances faced.  From the countless times I thought that Sarah and I would never make it being married, to Josiah being 8 weeks premature to him literally having to be revived twice in the NICU, to at the beginning of our sixteen year marriage having months at a time jobless which created enormous financial distress.  


And through ALL of that here we sit.  On the eve of launching Church at Hampton Roads in a few months having seen Gods provision and power through the whole process.  The love I have for God NEVER gets old, because I have seen His hand and His faithfulness in our lives.  His grace and mercy got us from where we were, to where we are, even though we do NOT deserve it!


If you feel like you are out in the middle of the wilderness and God has forgotten you I want to tell you He has NOT.  Moses was leading the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan (the promised land) and God led them by a route and timeframe they were not ready for.  But it was for a specific purpose.  To see if they were going to trust.  But more importantly to GIVE them on opportunity to trust.  God only does this so that He can confirm to you that He is who He says He is.  He does this through the miraculous that comes from our faith in a time of distress. From our praise and thanksgiving in a time of turmoil. 


But what I love about Moses's story is that he says in Deuteronomy chapter 3 verse 24,


"You have only begun to show Your greatness and the strength of Your hand to me..."


Really?  This was towards the end of Moses's life and he makes this statement?  He had seen God deliver Israel from Egypt by 10 amazing plagues and then parted the Red Sea for them.  He had sustained them for over 30 years in the desert and God has only begun to show His greatness and His strength??????


I feel a stirring when I read these words!  I want to tell you that no matter where you are in life there is a God that wants to move POWERFULLY on your behalf.  He wants to be faithful to you.  He wants to bless you and prosper you.  But in the end it is all about trust. Just as it was for the Israelites.  You see if we get up, leave our house and get to work before we acknowledge we have not even spoken a word to God, we really do not see our need for Him.  Although we saw a tremendous need for underwear and clothes because we realize the things that could happen if we did not physically get dressed.


We have to come to the place where we realize what happens when we do not get spiritually dressed.  God can not move on our behalf due to our lack of faith and trust.  Along with that, we need to recognize the root of why we have not stopped and recognized Him, pride.


NOTHING exists without God.  It is His mercy that allows us to breath. At times we deny Him with the very intelligence we would not have if He did not first give it to us.  What arrogance.  What would happen if we put Him in His rightful place?  If we trusted Him like we trust the food we eat?  What would happen if we desired to clothe ourselves with our relationship with Him like we desire to clothe ourselves with Banana Republic or Nordstroms?  We would see victory.  We would see provision.  We would begin to hear Him speak to us!  Because humility has now entered the picture, we have truly put God in His place, we have learned to place our trust and our hope in the Creator of ALL things.


Today, I challenge you to stir your expectancy and faith.  To make an intentional decision to clothe yourself with your personal relationship and hope in Jesus, the God above ALL gods.  To trust Him MORE than the food you eat.  This puts you in the position to see Him fight for you. That's an incredible thought because when God fights HE WINS!  And at the time in your life when you have begun to see the many incredible things He has done you will find yourself realizing that He desires to do extravagantly more for you than you could even think.  Why?  Because you have loved Him.  You will find yourself realizing that He has only begun to show you His greatness and the strength of His right hand!


Trust Him today.  He wants to fight for you!




Joel