BY GREG CRUM
“Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.” Luke 5:4-6
Think about the audacity of Jesus and the trust that Peter and his fishing partners placed in him at this moment in human history. These men were fishermen by trade—it’s how they fed their families and provided for their homes. They had had a disappointing night, lots of work with nothing to show for it, and just when most of us would have wanted to go home and count our losses, Jesus asked these men to work some more. Well, contrary to common sense they did! The payoff? A supernatural haul that exceeded their wildest expectations!
The way things stand in our society right now, it’s easy to have low expectations in life. We’ve witnessed so much apathy and incompetence in our government, manufacturing, and service industries that now it’s “normal” for us to expect to be let down by the quality and quantity of the goods and services we receive. Unfortunately, this has also led to a mindset of lowered expectations in some believers. This couldn’t be further from the mindset we should have because believers, people of faith in a “way too much” God, should be people who always think exceedingly abundantly above!
God is the master of going beyond our expectations. The Bible describes Him as not the God who is “almost” or “just enough” or “a little left over,” but as El Shaddai—the All-Sufficient One, or the God Who is more than enough! In other words, He’s a God of “too much,” way too much, in fact, for those that look to Him for their provision. Ephesians 3:20 captures this truth about God beautifully when it states, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” God is able to do well beyond what we expect of Him. He is able to sink our boats with blessing. Just ask Peter and Andrew! This is His nature, and this is His desire for His children, but in order to move on our behalf like this He must be able, or better said, enabled to do it.
So, what enables God to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think? Friends, I submit to you that God is already doing “exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think” in our lives right now. The problem is we are expecting so little that the “exceeding abundantly” is a minute fraction of what God can and wants to do in our lives. The solution? We need to raise our expectations! We need to get our hopes up! We need to believe God like we’ve never had a setback or faith disappointment in life! The higher we raise the bar of our faith the greater God can bless.
God desires to show up and show off in the lives of His children. Isn’t that the Biblical record? Isn’t that just what He did for the ancient Israelites when they actually believed in Him? Yes! And He’s the same God now as He’s always been. He still desires to bless us well beyond what we can imagine!
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.