Making History

I've just returned from a conference of challenge and encouragement. I met some awesome people, some hilarious people, some challenging people, and some people that will remain friends for life. There were guys who were so passionate about the message they had received their end goal was for everyone to not only hear that, but also commit to it. There were those who were prayer ninjas. Some were entertainers. All of them were looking beyond their own mission and looking to God.

God was moving powerfully through the week. We were standing in the centre of the British Isles learning about going beyond our limits and looking to God. As I meditated on Psalm 139 one morning Jesus gave me revelation over how He was going to accomplish more through us because of our vision.

The final 2 verses of Psalm 139 say:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

He showed me how the people that go further for Him and achieve more than is possible are those who look to God for their purpose and motivation, rather than themselves. Why is this? Well, the 'way everlasting' needs to be contrasted with a way that finishes. All the other paths (i.e. those not ordained by God) reach a dead end. Those walking on those paths get to the end and then stop. They've done all they can. It's attainable by ourself and we just do it. God's way is so much bigger. He asks us to look beyond ourselves and what we can accomplish, and towards Him and what He can accomplish (which is everything beyond what we could ask or even imagine).

When the apostle Paul wrote Romans, he was writing to set up a missions base in Rome to then head out to Spain. His chunk of theology was almost a simple foundational section so that when he arrived he knew they would be on the same page so they could send him. What's interesting is there is no hard historical evidence that Paul ever made it to Spain. He knew God was leading him there and was being obedient to set-up the possibility of going, but he never got there. If Paul had known he wouldn't make it to Spain he probably would have never written Romans, which is now considered the most important book in the New Testament.

If we aim for what we can do, we will attain only a small amount. If we aim for what God wants, looking beyond our limitations, we will attain far more than we can ask or imagine. And the work will continue into the everlasting. That's making History.