Expect big things

Sometimes, I feel the Holy Spirit whispering something to me over and over.  Often times I wonder if it's just me or my imagination -- "Is that something I want?  Or is that truly something the Holy Spirit is telling me?"  Usually I ask that if it is not of God that it go away.  If I feel like it keeps coming, I believe it's God trying to tell me something.

Leading up to the semester, I've felt God asking me to expect big things.  Over and over, again and again -- expect big things, expect big things, expect big things.

To ask for them.  

To believe that they will happen.  

To take risks for God.  

To believe He will deliver.  

To know He is bigger than my colleagues or my fears.  

To be still, and know He is God.  

To know He loves my unsaved friends, students, and colleagues more than I do.  

To know He is able.  

To believe He is willing.

Sunday I told Him, "Let's do this thing.  Use me however you would like.  I'm in.  I am expecting big things."

I am asking for Him to do big things in and through me.  I am excited to see how He delivers.

I am asking Him to use me in the lives of the girls in our youth group.  I am asking Him to use me to show them a fuller and clearer picture of who He is, and how to follow Him.  I am asking for a true sense of community among all girls in the group, and for us to be intentional about bringing the Gospel to people in our lives.  I am asking or us to be open and welcoming to new people.

I am asking Him to use me with my class.  There are 4 Iranians, 2 Turks, 3 Chinese students, and 2 Americans in my class -- only one knows Jesus.  I am asking for a chance to share the Gospel with all of them this semester to give them a chance to decide for themselves whether they will follow Jesus.  I am asking for all of them to say yes in their lifetimes.

A group of us at work (students, staff, hopefully a couple faculty) will be praying for our department.  I am asking God to use us in the lives of each other, and in changing our department.  I am asking for all of my faculty colleagues to come to know Jesus in their lifetimes, and for 5 to come this semester.  I am asking for the lives and hearts of the students in the department.  I am asking us to catalyze a change in the profession of industrial engineering.  I am asking industrial engineering to be a profession where the name of Jesus is known and proclaimed.

I am asking for God to use my church to reach this campus and this corner of the state.  I am asking God to help make the hearts of each person who attends the Grove willing and excited to do whatever He asks us, and for Him to reveal His plan for each of our lives.

I am asking for this to be the pivotal year at the University of Arkansas.  I am asking for an outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord here.  Last year as I was praying for the campus, I felt God whispering Matthew 5:14 to me -- "You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill that cannot be hidden."  I am praying this for the U of A: that we are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, and that people would see Jesus through all of us at the U of A.  I would like all U of A students to know Jesus personally, and take Him with them when they graduate, and pursue graduate degrees and jobs throughout the nation and the world.

I am believing that God will use me to help graduate students know that they can pursue Jesus in the world of academia -- that they can share the love, hope, peace, and joy of Jesus in their careers and interactions with students as graduate students now and faculty members in the future.

I am believing He will change the lives of my brothers, and that they will do mighty things to advance the Kingdom of God on earth.

I am asking for Him to do big things in and through me.  I am excited to see how He delivers.  So far -- two days into school -- He has already begun to show me some fruit.  Last night, there were 700-800 students at the Cru meeting; that means 1 in 34 students on campus was at Cru.  I have been connected with a Christian graduate student in history who is pursuing her PhD when I wondered how God was going to connect me with the right grad students.  Last night we had our first HS small group.  I was expecting two girls to come, but I prayed for four; four came.  It was fun and everyone had a good time.

God is faithful.  God is ready to pour out His spirit.  He will answer us if we ask Him with pure motives.  I am praying that my motives are pure.  I am praying that God will expand my view of what it means to expect big things.  I am praying for Him to change me to be more like Him.  I am praying for my view of Him not to be too small.

I am expecting big things.  I am ready.  God is willing and for sure He is able.

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  ~ Psalm 27:14.