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Here is the part I love: Small beginnings can have big endings. A small acorn holds within it a mighty oak tree & all that.
Here is the part I hate: What happens when the 'beginning' was 10 years ago? What if I am in the middle of it & it is still small? I don't mind having no resources, no recognition and no growth at the start. Things take time...but then time goes by & I am now in the middle. I still have no resources, no recognition and no growth. I'm gonna be honest here. I despise the days of small middles.
Maybe you dream of being a photographer & started taking pictures a few years ago while keeping a side job until your business took off. Now it is 5 years later, you are still taking pictures & still working a second job because the photo business isn't growing the way you want.
Maybe your marriage & family life started off rocky. You poured your time & energy into improving it. And yet, years later you are still struggling with the same hurdles.
Maybe you have spent several years trying to get a prayer meeting going at your church. Every week only a handful of people show up. God promised a movement of intercession...where is it?
Then comes the dread. Am I not as gifted as I thought? Did I miss God's promise? Why is everyone else's project gaining speed and I can't get mine off the ground? Fear & insecurity rob us of any hope we have left.
Sure, there is the chance that what you are pursing is outside of your giftings & skill sets. However, I don't think that is usually the case. So, why shouldn't I despise the day of small middles?
Well, I go back to this verse:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those
who love Him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
I can't see, hear, or wrap my brain around what God is doing. I get so mad at what God isn't doing, that I don't see what He is doing. I look at the plan & can't fathom why it is so far behind on production. I should have my platform by now...what is the delay?!?!
What we don't understand is that God's plans for us are much bigger than our plans for ourselves. In our minds 40 feet of foundation is enough to build the things in our hearts. God says "No, you can't do this on 40 feet. You don't understand the scope of what you were made to do. You need 4,000 feet of
foundation." So, we have to wait. We have to build more faith, more character and more authority.
I don't know why your beginning was small. I don't know why your middle is small. I DO know that your ending will be big. Grand, marvelous and unmatched. Even if you don't see the fullness of it until heaven - you won't be disappointed.
God has specific plans for each of us & they can't be compared to His plans for someone else. When our middles are small, we trust that God is big. And we trust that He knows what He is doing - because He does.
I think of this small middle thing when I think of Abraham... God told him, Go, and then, You'll have more descendants than fleas on the biggest yak, and then all Abraham got to do for a LONG time was sit around in the desert under terebinths. Waiting.
ReplyDeleteGood words, Elizabeth.
Great point Kely! Abraham probably has the smallest middle of us all. But his ending was massive!
ReplyDeleteHi! I met you very briefly after DP last week for Unbound. I came across your twitter and saw your blog this morning. I just wanted to let you know this was very powerful to me and exactly what I needed to hear! I feel like I could read it over and over again! Your writing is also very enjoyable. Thank you!
ReplyDelete-Erin
Erin, thanks so much for reading! I'm glad you were blessed. See you on March 4th for the UnBound meeting I hope!
DeleteLiz
I really needed to hear that today. Thank you for reminding me that my focus is to be on what God IS doing. Visiting from Soli Deo Gloria.
ReplyDeleteYou always bring such hope into your posts that anyone can grasp onto. This is such a good perspective -- especially the part about the amount of foundation needed. Somehow, I usually think I'm good to go and then God says, "not yet!"
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful, and apparently written just for MEEEE!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder to focus on what God IS doing. And, remember that where He doesn't appear to be working, He is simply working behind the scenes.
PS: It's tough to wait, though...
DeleteI also think of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. The angel appeared to him announcing God had heard his prayers and he would have a son. He questioned that because he and his wife were both very old and she was barren. The angel's reply was the words would come true "at their proper time".
ReplyDeleteBecause of his age I doubt Zechariah was still praying for a child. God had heard the prayers but hadn't answered because He wasn't ready to send Jesus yet. But now the time was right and John the Baptist was born.
God answers prayers according to His timetable, not ours.
Lolly
But, yeah, I agree with Janice. It IS hard to wait and keep believing. Lolly
DeleteVery often I have wondered why there has been no response to my prayers, and forget it is on His time. While I may think 400 is enough, He often answers in much bigger, unanticipated ways that end up requiring the 4,000. I always find myself laughing at myself later, reminding myself that I have to wait and trust.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the beautifully written reminder of how important to do just that.
I need to get better at laughing at myself while I wait and trust. Thanks for visiting!
DeleteElizabeth