Love and Other God-Sized Projects

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed ~ 1^st Peter 1:6-7 NIV

I recently went through a period where circumstances forced me to confront my feelings about a situation I had avoided dealing with for a long time. It was a mess, but not a particularly dramatic one. It was the unpleasant but common junk that we all have to deal with at some point in our lives.

 It all came down to relationship, forgiveness and letting go of some really deep hurt and anger. As I was in the midst of working through some of these issues I was struck by how difficult and painful it can be to obey the instruction given in Hebrews 12:15 to forgive and let go of hurt before it metastases into bitter roots.

My friend Jackie has an expression that she uses to describe any task or need that appears daunting or even impossible. She calls these things “God-sized projects.” I love the expression. Every time I hear her say it I’m reminded that there are some things I simply cannot do on my own. Letting go is one of those God-sized projects.

  After a recent reading of the gospels I have concluded that Jesus often assigned His followers God-sized projects. Here is a small sampling of some of Jesus’ more impossible commands and instructions…

Forgive~ Luke 6:37b NIV

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. Luke 6:32-33 NIV

  Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you~ Matthew 17:20 NIV

Do not worry~ Luke 12: 22

It occurred to me as I wrestled with my own junk that most God-sized projects are all related in one way or another to one of three issues: faith, love or forgiveness.

Faith is a challenge because faith is, at its core, believing God will meet needs that seem impossible to meet and solve problems that appear unsolvable. Faith assumes that a lack of provision in any area of our lives is either God waiting for the perfect moment or our lack of understanding as to what our needs really are. Faith isn’t really faith until it’s tested and hanging on during those times of testing is always a God-sized project.

Walking in faith becomes even more difficult when it is tangled up with forgiveness, as it often is. To truly forgive, we must believe God can and will deal with people who have hurt us in a way that is truly just without our assistance. Sadly, I have learned the hard way that nothing in this world looks and feels sweeter but is more embittering to our souls than vengeance. Living a life of faith means trusting God enough to give up the right to exact revenge.

Love is tough because well, frankly, people are tough to love sometimes. They can be weird and squirrelly.  Sometimes it feels like the minute we let our guard down and start to trust them they do something hurtful. Loving people is further complicated by the fact that biblical love accepts people the way they are rather than the way we wish they were. It is a mighty act of faith to trust that God is working in the hearts of those we care for as we obediently show them His love.

God has not changed in the last two millennia. He’s still into assigning His followers impossible tasks. You know you have been blessed with a God-sized project when you sense God is calling you to love people who are unlovable, forgive the inexcusable, or believe God for the implausible.

If God has entrusted you with one of His God’s sized projects, you need to understand and accept two truths. First, God believes in you. He chose you for this task for a reason. He knows that you able to do what He has asked you to do. Second, there are blessings ahead for you as you embrace your God-sized project. 

When we undertake the tough assignments God works in us and through us in fresh and powerful ways. Our wisdom increases dramatically, our concern for others is heightened and our ability to love is enlarged and refined. Our faith and confidence in God grows and becomes contagious to our friends and family.  When we forgive, we have a greater understanding of who God is and what He is all about, and we become better able to share his love with others.

The end result of embracing our God-sized projects is that we end up looking and acting a lot more like our heavenly Father when it’s all over.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ~ Philippians 1:9-10