Immeasurably More Than We Can Dream Or Imagine!

January 22, 2025

My favorite scripture is Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

Do you hear that? God can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” God can do “immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine” through people just like you and me.

At the moment we cry out to Jesus and ask for his forgiveness and for a relationship, God’s Word tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to reside within us. Billy Graham explains:

God heard that first cry for help, that cry for forgiveness, and answered it at Calvary. God sent His only Son into the world to die for our sins, so that we might be forgiven…

But God also heard our second cry, that cry for goodness, and answered it at Pentecost. God does not want us to come to Christ by faith, and then lead a life of defeat, discouragement and dissension. Rather, He wants to ‘fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power; in order that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you’ (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12). To the great gift of forgiveness God adds also the great gift of the Holy Spirit. He is the source of power who meets our need to escape from the miserable weakness that grips us. He gives us the power to be truly good…

It is because of the Holy Spirit that Paul can exclaim, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

I remember so many instances my first year of ministry when I was tempted to simply curl up and stand still. I was new to my faith and yet, I was leading others. I remember my first funeral. I was the third pastor on staff, a student; therefore, any family who did not have a church and needed a pastor for a funeral got me. My first funeral was a three-month old baby, open casket. At the time, my son, Nate, was only about a year old. I remember praying, “I can’t do it Lord…not me.” 

I remember being given the job of going to the local prison to sit with a young boy who had been caught stealing.  I remember stepping into the jail for the first time, the large, iron doors closing behind me, not knowing what I would say to this young man, scared and unsure of myself. Again, I remember praying, “I can’t do it Lord…not me.” 

How many meetings did I come home from those first couple years, only Deb knows, crying out to God, “I need to get out. I can’t go on. I feel blocked at every turn. I don’t have the leadership ability, the stamina, the perseverance…” Again, I prayed, “I can’t do it Lord…not me.” 

“I can’t do it Lord, not me” changed over time as my faith grew. As I did the funeral, befriended the prisoner, got back up the next morning after a stressful meeting and trudged back in the church, “I can’t do it Lord, not me” changed to “You Lord, Not Me.” 

“You Lord, Not Me.”

Throughout history, with God’s help, through the Holy Spirit, men and women have accomplished extraordinary things. Still, today, every day, people are following God’s nudging, trusting Him to provide the wisdom, energy, direction, and strength to get it done. Here are just a few examples:

• Calling a woman to teach women who have been victims of abuse how to do pottery.

  
  

• Calling a man to open his body shop to young people, teaching them to machine metal, repair vehicles, helping them create snowmen out of bolts and metalwork flowers for Christmas gifts for their parents. His mantra: “Don’t invite them to church; invite them to life.”

  
  

• Calling a four-year old girl to start a toy drive for sick children in the hospital at Christmas. Within ten years, the toy drive resulted in over 4,400 toys being donated to children in hospitals throughout New York.

  
  

• Calling a couple to purchase a used RV for $2,500, driving it to California, to give it to a family who lost their home in the wildfires, the beginning of an RV Ministry where people donate their RVs to families who have lost their homes.

  
  

• Calling church families to bake thousands of cookies to be delivered to frontline workers during the Pandemic, sharing the love of Christ and encouraging them in their work.

  
  

• Calling a mom and dad to become foster parents, to adopt two children, and to cash in their 401K to start a ministry to help provide foster kids with clothing, toys, and other necessities.

  
  

• Calling a young man, fresh out of barber school, to start a ministry called Empowering Cuts, where he walks the city streets giving free haircuts to the homeless.

  
  

• Calling a man and woman who had just started the empty-nest years and were about to sell their six-bedroom house, to decide to keep their home and to adopt seven children, ages 1-13, whose parents were killed in a car accident.

Paul writes, “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure”(Philippians 2:13, AMP).

Regardless of what amazing things God has done through you in the past, God has more.

A few years back, I decided to hike Old Rag Mountain, outside Shenandoah National Park, with my youngest son, Matthew. After two strenuous miles hiking straight up, we came to the summit. I was exhausted, but I was so glad I hiked. The view was amazingly beautiful, and we sat overlooking the valley and the surrounding mountains. Then, we continued the trail.

Another half mile climbing over giant boulders and up fantastical rock scrambles, we reached the true summit. We stopped and looked down on the rocks far below where we had first rested, where we thought we had reached the top of the mountain. Once again, I took in God’s magnificence. Once again, we started back on the trail, only to realize where we had just left was not the summit either.

Up and up, over more boulders and rock climbs, through caves and crevices, we reached yet another summit. After reaching that new height, there was one more summit to reach. The actual summit, the actual top of Old Rag Mountain, was two miles from the first place we stopped and rested and looked over the valley thinking we had arrived.

No matter how beautiful, how wonderful the moment, how much is accomplished, how great a goal is reached or ministry started, GOD HAS MORE!

Take a moment at the beginning of the New Year and simply pray, “You Lord, Not Me,” and then get ready for “immeasurably more than you can dream or imagine!”