Several years ago, my wife and I lost our home to a fire. That night, as we prepared to our hearts and minds to begin searching for a new one, Beth offered God a simple prayer, “Father, whatever you have for us in this, we accept it.” We did not know it at the time, but that “whatever” prayer set into motion a “more than” adventure. You can read the whole story here.

In the midst of that adventure, we found a fabulous house on a very nice piece of property. The morning we were to receive an answer to our offer, God spoke to me, “I am not going to give you that house. I am going to give you something more.” That is exactly what happened.

Even as we, in our desperation to find something within our timeframe, began to doubt God’s promise, He gave my wife her dream home. In the process, He taught us a lesson in trusting Him for more.

It’s More Than You Might Think

Minds focused on the material world might misunderstand and underestimate the meaning of our story and the saying of Jesus we are exploring in this article. Yes, God gave us something of this world beyond our expectations, but material possessions are never more than pale shadows of God’s kingdom provisions.

God does not promise a dream house with every “whatever” prayer. Those who pursue God for material gain are tripping over dollars to pick up pennies, as people used to say. Beth and I have enjoyed living in our house and are grateful to God for it, but the house is not the greatest gift we received in our house fire adventure.

Jesus realized the Sermon on the Mount would challenge His listeners – even those with the strongest faith. He knew the difficulty we would encounter in our attempts to see beyond this world and this life; that our paradigms are insidiously constrained by our current realities. Knowing our frailties, He encourages us to think beyond even the best we have to offer.

Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:9-11

And so, as He nears the end of His sermon, Jesus reminds us that the benefits of His life are beyond what we ourselves can measure by the physical limitations of evil man (yes, He calls us evil). “Good things” are God things. The kingdom life offers more than the fullness of this world… and more than the whatever might be valued by the evil nature of man.

It is interesting that Jesus does not define “how much more…”. He seems to leave the answer to our imagination, but even our wildest imaginations are incapable of measuring the goodness 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… Ephesians 3:20

…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32

The goodness of God is beyond all that we can ask or think. It is beyond our imagination. It is truly limitless…supernatural… and surprising. The goodness of God is God Himself, working in us to give us His kingdom!

Our Father in heaven is not only able to give us more, He desires to give us the good things of His kingdom: faith, peace, revelation, expectation, fellowship, amazement, reverence. These are the good things He gave to Beth and I in our house fire adventure, and He promises to do the same for those who come to Him with their “whatever” – our expression of trust in Him and surrender to His goodness.

Humbly yours and forever His,

Rob

#iamjustthepen