The Enemy of 'Great'

By Gobel Brockman



I've began my 'Through the Bible in a year' reading program for 2013. The main story that stuck out to me in my reading this week is the story of Abraham. An old man, well past his prime, married to a lady in the same situation. They have no children, yet God speaks to him and says, "If you can count the stars, then you can count your descendants." Here's the thing that hits me: it says, "Abraham believed God...". How much faith did it take for an old man, married to an old woman, to believe that they would have a son? To be honest, more than I probably have. And yet, it seemed no difficult task to Abraham.

That got me thinking in this direction: how many promises are in the Bible that I'm not believing for myself? How often do I let circumstances blind me to what's available to me? The Bible says some incredible things that we as Christians can believe:

"I will never leave you or forsake you."
"If God be for us, who can be against us?"
"I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength."
"We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

I could go on - and on. I think one of the church's biggest failures is not taking God at His word when He says that He is on our side, and will not leave us. I remind us all that God isn't like us - when He promises, He doesn't forget it. He is true to His word. Those things that we think are impossible are nothing to the One that created this whole thing by simply saying, "Let there be..."

What do I think is 'the enemy of great'? Settling for 'good enough'. Allowing circumstances to cause us to stop believing that God is bigger than our situations. Refusing to step out in faith because it seems impossible to us, and failing to remember that we serve a God that loves taking the impossible and showing His power through it. My goal this year is to live one day at a time, and stop allowing circumstances to dictate how much I believe God for. He is for me, He's promised that He will never leave me, and that I'll face no problem by myself.

I don't want to be 'good', I want to let God prove through me that He's 'Great'.