Big Thinkin'

When I began to get promoted within my career, I was often faced with the feeling of imposter syndrome. I can say the same when it came to teaching bible study lessons. I'd often feel in both scenarios that there were people out there ten trillion times better than me. I was so sure that those observing me realized that too. Who on earth would want to hear what I had to say?  I had the same thoughts early on with these posts. Who’s reading these words except me?  While battling that internal war, I began to truly recognize the importance of relying on God’s strength instead of my own. My own subconscious recognizes my inadequacies. So why rely on my own wisdom? 

 Who on earth would want to hear what I had to say?

One day, I was driving along the road and listening to the lyrics of a song. Our God is Awesome. He can move mountains. I zeroed in on that line as I was driving because I began to think…yes. He can move mountains. Then I began to think about mountains. I began thinking, well I suppose if that mountain moved, it’d be by way of an earthquake or some other natural phenomena. By my own strength, that mountain ain’t going anywhere. It’s stuck in place no matter how hard I push and shove. But if there were an earthquake or a volcano, perhaps it could shift a little or even fall down completely. That train of thought ultimately made me chuckle because that is exactly what our carnal mind does. It attempts to rationalize something spiritual. The path I took concerning natural mountains, while possibly true, minimized the magnitude of the God that created them.  

Our minds are fascinating. We rationalize and strategize and everything else under the sun in order to find a logical solution to a problem. If it defies our logic, we say it’s impossible. In a way, that’s what I did in that moment with the mountain. I instantly sought out the only logical solution I could think of for how a mountain may move. I didn’t intentionally squeeze God out of the equation. My logical mind, however, was certain in the thought process of mountain moving. 

In my line of work, we often talk about “out the box” thinking. Sometimes, we end up imposing limits on our creativity, even in our everyday lives. We settle into the comfort of what we know to be true. If our logic can’t identify a logical explanation, then it can’t be done. Simple. This is why I love to circle back to the bible. In many ways, our faith defies logic anyway. It’s crazy to believe in something we can’t see, right? Yet, we do it in so many other ways. The air we breath. The wind chill we feel. That wifi/cell tower connection. We readily acknowledge a disconnect with all those things, but are not so quick to do so on a spiritual level.

For just a moment, there was a disconnect. However, once I shifted my thoughts back to God and the spiritual aspect, it began to click. Yes. God is not only a mountain shaker, but He alone is capable of bringing down that mountain. Just like those walls of Jericho. Sometimes, we rely a little too much on our own understanding. In doing so, we begin to put limitations on what God is capable of doing for us. So we begin, however unintentionally, to limit what we are trusting in God for. Instead of imposing limits and trusting God for some things, go big. Give it all to him and trust him with every single part of who you are and what you desire to see in your future. How great do you believe God is? If we trust him enough to ask the request of him, we have to allow our trust in him to deliver to be even bigger. Don’t impose limits on God. That’s a sure way to miss out on granting him free reign to illustrate his glory to you and those around you.

Stay Sunny!

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