You may have seen in the news yesterday that a little girl -- just 11 years old -- was found in a Florida swamp after disappearing over the weekend. I heard her story on Sunday and thought to myself that she may have been a victim of kidnapping -- or worse. Instead, this media story had a different and delightful outcome. A young man in Florida found the girl. Alive and well. He said God led him to her. The little girl was lost and now is found.
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Lots of great analogies we could draw from this happy ending for our lives, but this one took a strange turn even I didn't expect.
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I was sitting in my office, reading the story on CNN when one of my colleagues walked in. I quickly told him the story, including the part about the man being led to the girl by God. This prompted an interesting discussion, to say the least. `"You are a believer, right? `Yep. Got that one right. `"And do you believe that God still speaks? I mean, burning bush type speaking?" `For sure.`"So why don't we hear more stories like this one?"`Great question. My answer? Because we aren't listening. If we stopped the madness and tried to hear God rather than shooting up little requests as needed, we might hear Him more. `"Ok. So you think this is possible? This 'leading a man to a lost girl' thing?"`I do. (Remember: this is two lawyers going at it. The questions are getting progressively harder.)`"Why doesn't it happen more often? Of all of the people in the world who believe, if we accept that even just 10,000 of them are listening as you suggest, we should hear these stories a lot more often."`Interesting point my self-professed "I believe in nothing" friend made. And I didn't have a particularly good answer for him. On reflection, however, maybe it's because we aren't asking God for that. I didn't pray for God to tell me where the child was. What if I had? Maybe that man did! Bottom line is that I think we would have a lot more if we asked a lot more, in faith and with a pure heart. Lord provide (__the big things__). Lord, lead me to (__the seemingly impossible__). Lord, heal (__the incurable__).
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My friend's questions got me thinking about how limiting we are in our view of God. How small we make Him. How finite. How weak, frankly. Lord, help me to never put you in a box. Help me to remember and know how deep and wide is your love for me and how awesome are your deeds. And, Lord, help me to ask BIG. Amen.