Thursday, May 6

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble… Psalm 46:1

Begin today by bringing your needs, pains, and fears to the Lord in prayer. He invites his children to come to him for strength and help.

Read:
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

There are lots of things we can measure in our lives – our height, weight, income, miles-per-gallon, Facebook friends. But I think we would all agree that most important things in life are immeasurable. How do you measure joy, peace or love? The truth is you can’t. And if you try, you actually subtract from the very experience you are trying to measure!

Paul here is teaching us that God specializes in the immeasurable – specifically, “immeasurably more.”

Immeasurably more love.
Immeasurably more joy.
Immeasurably more peace.
Immeasurably more hope.

What does this mean?

Just last week I stood in an ICU room just minutes after a family had to make the unspeakably difficult decision to take their loved one off life support. Their husband and father had suffered massive and irreversible bleeding in his brain – and even with all the knowledge and technology of the modern medical world – there was nothing that could be done. Yet, as we stood around the bed and listened to the labored breathing, there was not despair – but love, peace and hope. Why? Because the truth of Christ had filled this man’s heart and life, as well as his wife and his children. It filled the hospital room in which we stood, and it filled even the tears that welled up in our eyes. The love of Christ was real; the peace of Christ was sweet, and the hope of Christ was absolutely immeasurable.

I believe God always wants to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. I believe God is even now working to do more than you can ask or imagine in your life. Sometimes the “immeasurably more” is obvious – as in the birth of a child or the celebration of marriage. Sometimes the “immeasurably more” is more hidden – like in an ICU room or at a graveside ceremony. But our God is the God of “immeasurably more”!

Looking back over your life – where has God done immeasurably more than you could have imagined?

Where do you need him to do immeasurably more today?

Close your time by thanking him for all he has done and by trusting him to continue to work in your heart and life in the days ahead!

Brian Coffey