Tighten Your Belt

It really is quite fascinating how much differently the Lord thinks, in contrast to our religious thinking. I’ve always heard that we should grin and bear it, keep a stiff upper lip (does that mean we shouldn’t cry?), and tighten our belts. The one person I’ve never heard that from is God.

This matter of an addition on my house is a great example. I’m single and childless. My house is plenty big enough for me, and in the event of my marriage, why can’t I just get rid of half of my clothes and a fair bit of other stuff, and reconcile myself to being crowded? After all, the people who lived in this house before me raised three or four kids in it, and didn’t build the small addition out the back of the house until after all the kids were grown. If they could live that way, why should I even contemplate building an addition? Especially in light of the fact that I have only about 10% of the money I’ll need to do it.

But, as I said, the Lord doesn’t think like we do. Many times have I read "sing, oh barren woman, sing …" but this time through I saw it differently. Read carefully what that passage says. The Lord is talking to a woman who is single and childless, and He’s telling her to increase the size of her dwelling place. He tells her to not hold back. He tells her to not be afraid that she’ll be embarrassed by having a huge but empty house, because He is telling her that she’ll have many children.

I’m not suggesting that we all run out and build something bigger than what we need, but the point I’m making is that God doesn’t think like we do. He has enough, and He has a whale-of-a-lot more than enough. When He gives us a view of our future (which, incidentally, is always big), He expects us to take it to heart. That probably doesn’t mean that we get in debt doing something we can’t afford to do, but it does mean that we think big and dream big and speak big and plan big. It means that when we face an obstacle, we throw our hearts over it, rather than drawing back. It may not mean that we take action right now on the outside, but it does mean a certain kind of attitude in the heart.

If one passage isn’t enough to convince you that this is the way God thinks, consider some other things. God expected Abraham to plan (in his heart) for many nations of descendents, when he was an old man and had not one child. The Lord expected Abraham to explore on foot a country that he was, in fact, claiming for descendents he would never see. The Lord gave Noah instructions to build a water-proof boat to save him from unimaginable rains and floods.

Now, what has God promised you?

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