One Saturday morning after an exhausting week at work, I stood listening to the coffeemaker grind the beans, and as I was standing there, an old hymn marched through my mind – an old hymn with new words that I couldn’t help singing: “Ground up, ground up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross…” Ground up! That’s how I was feeling. Anybody know what I mean?
I remember thinking that I needed a break! And praying,“Lord, I just need a little break!” But marching right beside that tired tune was a gentle reminder – Jesus isn’t little. He isn’t a little pick-me-up to get me through the day. He isn’t a little bandage to hide my wounded week. He isn’t a little Advil for my aches and pains. Jesus isn’t little. When was I going to start acting like He was much more?
Recently I’ve been trying to make healthier eating choices, and one thing I miss is Blue Bell Ice Cream. Blue Bell and I have a history. When I was pregnant with our son, Reid, I started eating the Dutch Chocolate out of the freezer after my husband had gone to work one day. And as the day went by, I’d go by the freezer and eat some more. And some more. And then some more again until there was no more Blue Bell. None. So I had a problem, which I promptly solved by going to the grocery store and buying another gallon of Dutch Chocolate. But then I had another problem. I had to eat the ice cream in the new gallon down to where it had been the night before so Ian wouldn’t know what I had done.
Eating more Blue Bell wasn’t the best thing I ever did, nor the worst either for that matter. But I did tell my husband, and it became his favorite story. He wanted a Blue Bell billboard that said, “Thanks, Blue Bell, for my 10-pound baby boy!”
Ephesians 3:20 says,“ Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all than we ask or think according to the power that workest in us" (AMS). And do you know what “exceedingly abundantly above all” means? Oh, yes. It means more! But it’s much more than more. It’s like more on spiritual steroids! With God, more is always more. And it’s a good more!
Today, what if we don’t settle for a little break from our struggles? What if we expect more today than a little relief from the grinder? What if we take God up on everything that he says and just want more? With God more isn’t a bad word; with God, more is more.
How much power does it take to raise the dead? That’s the more we’re talking about here! That isn’t the power of positive thinking, but the power of God.
One of my favorite verses is to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” Jesus keeps us coming back for more because He’s the best there is. And since His more is “exceedingly abundantly” more than we can ever imagine, I’m praying today to be more awed by his presence and more wowed by who He is than I ever have before. And not to forget that He's the God of much more.
And I’m also going to write Ephesians 3:20 above my coffeemaker!