Ephesians 3:20

     Every time I tell people the cost of this trip, $15,500, I am met with jaw drops and bug eyes…not exactly the most encouraging thing ever. Sometimes I find myself giving in to their unbelief that our God will not provide…that He’s not big enough to work this out…that He’s not in control of everything. And then subtly (sometimes not so subtle) He lovingly reminds me that He is God, and THAT is enough to trust in Him.
     Recently I set out to write a letter to my supporters with an update of how fundraising was going, how I was doing, etc, but I found myself instead with a letter to myself from God reminding me of His goodness (if that makes sense)…and I want to share it with you.
     Background information: in my first letter I shared how much I had raised so far, which was around $4,000, which is a great feat in itself, and I focused it on Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think…” So fast forward to this letter, one month later, God has DOUBLED my funds. I know what you’re thinking…holy crap, right?! Don’t worry I’m thinking it too. And if you’re not, you should be! I mean I now have $8,000. Our God provided $4,000 in ONE MONTH. Whoa. I think He proved Ephesians 3:20 to be true right there…but He wasn’t done yet.
     At the beginning of this year I attended Passion conference. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a conference for 18-25 year olds with the purpose of seeing “spiritual awakening come to the college campuses of the nation and the world.” Their theme this year was Ephesians 3:20, how crazy is that? I mean God was definitely trying to show me something here, and He absolutely did. Okay, let me explain. There is this one person who I have been constantly praying for with patience with extreme anxiousness that Christ would rock her world like He had mine and that she would just completely fall in love with him. I thought this conference would be the perfect opportunity for her to really experience Him, so naturally I pestered her everyday for about a month (btw I know you’re reading this…and sorry about the annoying-ness J) so she would buy her ticket. One week before she let me know she probably wouldn’t be able to go because of money, and I was completely okay with that I was a little disappointed. I knew that if she wasn’t going it was God ordained and He had another plan for her. However, a few days later, I got a call from another friend who had a FREE TICKET and she wanted to give it to her! I mean, oh man, for God to have done all of this just for her He had to have something HUGE in store for her, right? Yes. Let the prayers commence. I mean this girl had to have hundreds of people praying for her. I know I was just praying a small prayer that she would experience Him, but our God does ABUNDANTLY more. So fast forward to the last night of the conference, John Piper just got done with his talk and Louie Giglio comes up to ask if anyone “finally gets it,” if anyone’s life had been changed tonight. You can just feel the prayers for this girl around us- I mean the Holy Spirit was working- you could just FEEL it. I peeked my little eyes open to look at her, hoping, and to my right I see her standing with her arms held high and tears pouring down her face. I am not kidding you when I say it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. That image is forever in my mind and brings tears to my face every time I think about it. So I will say it again, for myself and for you, God is able to do far more abundantly that all we ask or think. I mean look what He did with my small prayer request for her.
     So if you’re like me and get discouraged sometimes with people’s not-so-encouraging remarks, rest in Ephesians 3:20. We can faithfully believe that while yes $15,500 is a large sum of money, NOTHING is too big for our God. If He has the power to change hearts, He has the power to provide pieces of paper.