Big Moments

Life is hard. Sometimes too hard. Many people walk through difficult situations and circumstances without any hope of things getting better. But what if we understood "how" God wants to use those difficult circumstances to grow our faith? Sounds crazy, right? You might be surprised at how often God allows us to experience pain or hurt in order to grow and stretch our trust in Him.

I recently concluded a series by Andy Stanley entitled: Grow Up. For six weeks I communicated to my students ways they could grow their faith. We talked about things like:

*Living the Big Life and how when it comes to growing our faith, doing, not knowing, is what makes the difference.

*Being on the Big Team and how God uses relationships to impact and grow our faith.

*Engaging in the Big Give and how spiritual disciplines grow our faith and show us both God's heart and ours.

*Getting involved in the Big Serve and understanding there is a direct connection between your faith and your willingness to serve others.

And what's interesting is that not only are each of these areas critical to growing our faith, but they are also areas that we have control over. But what about the areas we don't have control over? What about the pivotal circumstances that we all experience that feel like hell on earth when going through them, but ultimately define and refine us into the person that God wants us to become? If you are like me, you have no problem allowing God to grow your faith when you are dealing with areas of your life that you have a measure of control over. But when God allows you to walk through something that removes every level of control from you (so that He may be glorified)...well that's a whole different ballgame. That's when the "push back" comes and we tend to say, "whoa, wait a minute Lord. I didn't sign up for this. Isn't there a less painful way?" But here's the thing...We can't have Big Moments without going through some Big Disappointments.

John 11:1-45 tells the story of a man named Lazarus who had died and then been brought back to life through the power of God. If you have ever experienced the pain of losing someone you love, you can imagine how this would have affected Lazarus's family, friends, and community. And its interesting that Jesus allowed these events to play out the way they did. He could have made it so that his friend (Lazarus) was healed from the sickness that took his life. But Jesus knew there was a better way to build their faith. He allowed them to go through the pain and despair of death in order to bring them out on the other side. But Why?

Because He knows that when you and I are going through our pivotal circumstances, God is doing something in us, so that He can ultimately do something through us! Its those Big Moments in our lives that have the potential to expand and stretch our faith like nothing else.

Bottom Line: It's not what happens to you, but how you respond to it that matters most.