Читать книгу There is More: When the World Says You Can’t, God Says You Can - Brian Houston, Brian Houston - Страница 7

Please, sir, I want some more.”¹ These famous words of a starving Oliver Twist have undoubtedly echoed in the hearts and minds of millions of people who also long to have just a little bit more. Perhaps you long for more time, more resources, more space. Maybe you simply need to find a bit more energy and motivation to continue along the path you currently find yourself on, or maybe you have a dream in your heart that continues to evade you. Maybe you’re walking in your calling but still find yourself asking, What is this all about? Should I be doing more with my life?

The narrative of this book is not about selfishness and greed. It’s not about acquiring more, about avarice and indulgence. It’s not even an essay on satisfaction and self-fulfillment. It’s about calling—God’s amazing plans for your life and the sufficiency of His grace in superseding your wildest dreams, all for a purpose bigger than you are.

Have you ever stopped to wonder what God’s response would be to your heart’s cry for more? It is my firm belief that, unlike Mr. Bumble (the tyrannical caretaker of the orphanage in Charles Dickens’s classic novel), the Savior of the universe would bend down and in the most caring of manners say, “More what? And how much more? My supply is unending. My mercy is limitless. My grace is more than you need.”

You see, the more that God wants for your life is beyond comprehension. It’s not limited to space and time, not able to be measured with earthly devices or human minds. Ephesians 3:20–21 tells us plainly, “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us” (MSG). Other translations put it this way: He can “do above and beyond” (HCSB) or “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

Have you ever stopped to think about that? God can do anything. And not just a little bit more than you have already asked for or dreamed of. Far more.

What are your wildest dreams? Your craziest ideas, deepest longings, and grandest plans—the things you’ve not dared tell anyone and barely allowed your soul to imagine? Because it is exactly that dream, that vision, those grand plans of yours that I’m telling you aren’t enough. What a small thinker you are! All of heaven is looking down upon you, shaking their heads, and saying, “Is that all?! Is that all he wants? Is that all she can dream of?”

Allow me to stretch your thinking here, dear reader, because we serve the ultimate Big Thinker. No plans of yours even compare to His. Your heart’s cry for more has been answered with a chuckle and a grin from a Father’s heart that takes what you see and expands it into something you can’t see.

God can take every limitation that has been put on your life—by yourself or by others—and expand your heart and purpose in a way that is way bigger, way higher, way more effective than anything you could imagine.

I’ve seen it in my own life. I can testify to His faithfulness when it comes to more—more than I wanted, more than I dreamed, more than I ever thought I would need. I’m not speaking of simple material matters, of monetary things or things that can be counted or valued by earthly standards. I’ve watched as God has exceeded the dreams in my heart, the visions I’ve had for my own life and the lives of my family and those closest to me. I’ve experienced the “much more” favor of God when it comes to my marriage, leadership, children, and friendships.

For many years, while standing in one of our Hillsong Church auditoriums or by the side of the stage at one of our annual conferences, people have asked me, “Could you see all this when you started?” You know, I have always been a determined visionary, but in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined all God has done and is doing. I couldn’t have planned it, executed it, or dreamed of the days we are living in now. And I’ve stopped trying to. You can never out-dream God.

I’ve learned to trust God with the secret desires of my heart—the things I don’t know that I need and the things I thought I didn’t need. Many a time, I’ve discovered there is more to the valleys I walked through than simply the pain I experienced. There is more to learn in storms than what my eyes were fixed on in the natural. There is more purpose to my provision than simply my own fulfillment and enjoyment—so much more.

In fact, in the sentences preceding the glorious verse I already quoted (Ephesians 3:20–21), we are given a glimpse into the reason for our more:

I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (verses 14–21)

Filled with all the fullness of God. Glory to all generations.

This book is about exactly that: the character and nature of the God we serve and His desire to see each and every one of us experience that Ephesians 3 life—His desire to see us filled to overflowing with every good, wonderful, and perfect gift from Him, purposed to build the church, expand the kingdom, and echo His name throughout the generations. The following chapters unfold the purpose of our more, the source of our more, and the understanding that more is less about us, more about others, and all about Him. But first you need to understand that our heavenly Father sees more in you than you could ever see in yourself.

My prayer is that you will turn each of these pages and discover something new within the ancient text scattered throughout. I hope that regardless of the prayers you have prayed, the triumphs you’ve celebrated, the failures you’ve lived or perceived, you will come to understand that there is more grace, goodness, mercy, kindness, love, forgiveness, and favor waiting in your future. God’s will for your life—heaven’s perfect purpose—is indeed beyond your wildest dreams. And if you have ever asked for more and, like Oliver Twist, been met by angry words or an indifferent spirit, or if you’ve ever had your motives questioned or been unjustly assailed, I pray that through my personal experiences and revelation, you will find healing as you discover a little bit more about the true character of our giving God and His desires for your life.

There is always more to uncover—more to discover about who He is and who He says you are. There is more ahead of you than you’ve allowed yourself to dream or allowed yourself to believe. There is more room in your life for the things of God and the people of God than you even thought possible—more space to be made for God to make His presence known in and through you. And if for some reason you’ve stopped dreaming big things for your life, stopped imagining that your life is a story to tell or a legacy to be remembered, then this book is a good place to start again.