"Give me a snowflake and I will believe God for an avalanche." Beth Moore
Recently, I was watching Beth Moore preach. She talked about one morning when she woke up in the predawn hours thinking she heard rain. When she pulled back the curtains, she was surprised to see snowflakes. She was very excited about this (probably since she is from Houston) and decided to pray that God would bring more than just a few snowflakes. She prayed he would bring an avalanche.
This example prompted two thoughts in me:
How am I limiting God in my life?
When our faith seems small (like a snowflake), God shows up big (like an avalanche).
Too often, I limit my prayers, thus limiting God. I pray for the snowflake when he wants to give me the avalanche. I live in North Texas. If we are lucky, we may get one or two snow storms a year. Some winters we have nothing. While others, we can receive a foot of snow or debilitating ice storm. I am originally from Southern California so snow is exciting to me. I think I get more giddy than the kids when it snows. I remember one year when my middle guy was three he kept saying it wasn't Christmas until it snowed. I thought this kid is going to be sadly disappointed when, come Christmas, it is 80 degrees. He was not to be deterred. He was convinced it wasn't going to be Christmas until the snow fell. We got over a foot of snow that year. It began to fall on Christmas Eve and kept falling right through Christmas day. I want my prayers to be that adamant. I want to pray for avalanches even when my heart says snowflake.
I pray snowflake prayers because I believe that is what I deserve. I am undeserving of the avalanches. I am not good enough to be blessed in that way. I did not earn it nor do I deserve it so I will stick to my snowflakes. I also find myself scared to pray the avalanche prayers. They are too big, too daunting, too scary. What if I fail in the avalanche? What if I get buried by it? What if I am totally ill-equipped and unprepared when the avalanche comes? I forget that if God is going to give me the avalanche, he is also going to give me the tools to dig my way out.
The other way I was moved by the snowflake vs. avalanche comparison was how I approach my faith. I think many of us approach it this way. We live our faith in a box. We are like a cat and enjoy the confines and safety that our little box brings. We know all four corners and all four sides. It is comfortable. Safe. Just like our neighborhoods. Most of us don't travel out of our four corners. That's why there seems to be a Walmart, gas station, bank, and CVS on every corner. We know the roads. We like the convenience. Our snowflake faith is no different. It is easy, known, manageable. When we allow our faith to grow like an avalanche, we invite in the unknown and unplanned. If you are like me, you like lists, calendars, and plans. There is no space in the box for avalanche.
Living for snowflakes limits God and God, well, he has no limits. We limit his grace in our lives. We limit how much we allow him to love us. We limit his blessings he wants to bestow upon us. We limit his ability to work in and through us for the Kingdom. I don't know about you, but, I don't want to limit God anymore.
I refuse to pray for snowflakes anymore. I will now allow the avalanche of God to infiltrate my life. God is so much bigger and greater than I allow him to be. It is time I start living outside the safe confines of my pretty little snowflake and start living for the abundance in the avalanche. I bet I could have an epic snowball fight there.
Here's to an avalanche. Maybe Christmas will come with a little snow this year.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Recently, I was watching Beth Moore preach. She talked about one morning when she woke up in the predawn hours thinking she heard rain. When she pulled back the curtains, she was surprised to see snowflakes. She was very excited about this (probably since she is from Houston) and decided to pray that God would bring more than just a few snowflakes. She prayed he would bring an avalanche.
This example prompted two thoughts in me:
How am I limiting God in my life?
When our faith seems small (like a snowflake), God shows up big (like an avalanche).
Too often, I limit my prayers, thus limiting God. I pray for the snowflake when he wants to give me the avalanche. I live in North Texas. If we are lucky, we may get one or two snow storms a year. Some winters we have nothing. While others, we can receive a foot of snow or debilitating ice storm. I am originally from Southern California so snow is exciting to me. I think I get more giddy than the kids when it snows. I remember one year when my middle guy was three he kept saying it wasn't Christmas until it snowed. I thought this kid is going to be sadly disappointed when, come Christmas, it is 80 degrees. He was not to be deterred. He was convinced it wasn't going to be Christmas until the snow fell. We got over a foot of snow that year. It began to fall on Christmas Eve and kept falling right through Christmas day. I want my prayers to be that adamant. I want to pray for avalanches even when my heart says snowflake.
I pray snowflake prayers because I believe that is what I deserve. I am undeserving of the avalanches. I am not good enough to be blessed in that way. I did not earn it nor do I deserve it so I will stick to my snowflakes. I also find myself scared to pray the avalanche prayers. They are too big, too daunting, too scary. What if I fail in the avalanche? What if I get buried by it? What if I am totally ill-equipped and unprepared when the avalanche comes? I forget that if God is going to give me the avalanche, he is also going to give me the tools to dig my way out.
The other way I was moved by the snowflake vs. avalanche comparison was how I approach my faith. I think many of us approach it this way. We live our faith in a box. We are like a cat and enjoy the confines and safety that our little box brings. We know all four corners and all four sides. It is comfortable. Safe. Just like our neighborhoods. Most of us don't travel out of our four corners. That's why there seems to be a Walmart, gas station, bank, and CVS on every corner. We know the roads. We like the convenience. Our snowflake faith is no different. It is easy, known, manageable. When we allow our faith to grow like an avalanche, we invite in the unknown and unplanned. If you are like me, you like lists, calendars, and plans. There is no space in the box for avalanche.
Living for snowflakes limits God and God, well, he has no limits. We limit his grace in our lives. We limit how much we allow him to love us. We limit his blessings he wants to bestow upon us. We limit his ability to work in and through us for the Kingdom. I don't know about you, but, I don't want to limit God anymore.
I refuse to pray for snowflakes anymore. I will now allow the avalanche of God to infiltrate my life. God is so much bigger and greater than I allow him to be. It is time I start living outside the safe confines of my pretty little snowflake and start living for the abundance in the avalanche. I bet I could have an epic snowball fight there.
Here's to an avalanche. Maybe Christmas will come with a little snow this year.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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