Making God Big Again
I was reading in Romans this past week. And to be honest, I went over these verses without giving much additional thought:
“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:20-21
Paul was speaking of Abraham in this small passage. And Paul knew how the story turned out, but Abraham did not.
This promise would the natural order as Sarah was well beyond “the way of women.” Abraham was nearly one hundred years old. The promised son had not arrived. Everything visible suggested impossibility.
God’s response,
“Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
The answer to that question within a community group or at church, is a 100% “No, nothing is too hard for the Lord!”
We believe God can do anything… until life gets hard.
The commentary on Romans 4:20-21, from Enduring Word, has this quote from John Calvin:
"When there is no contest, it is true, no one, as I have said, denies that God can do all things; but as soon as anything comes in the way to impede the course of God’s promise, we cast down God’s power from its eminence."
We sing about it. We preach about it. We post Bible verses about it. We nod our heads with agreeing approval when someone says, "Nothing is impossible with God."
But then life happens.
The doctor's report comes back worse than expected. The job is chaos. The marriage remains strained. The prodigal child does not return. The business struggles despite months of prayer.
And suddenly, what we profess with our lips collides with our circumstances. And we throttle God’s power.
Calvin’s quote captured this reality with precision centuries ago. We readily affirm God's omnipotence when there is no opposition. Yet the moment circumstances contradict His promises, we unconsciously lower God from His throne in our minds. We do not deny His power outright. We simply begin acting as though the obstacle before us is greater than the God above us. We make God small.
In my mind, in this culture and this time, that is the defining spiritual battle.
Never, in history, have we been so connected and yet, we are so emotionally unsettled.
Every day brings another headline announcing economic uncertainty, political division, cultural upheaval, technological disruption, or international conflict. Social media feeds operate like emotional roller coasters, taking us from outrage to fear to anxiety in a matter of minutes.
One moment we are told the economy is thriving. The next moment we are warned a recession is around the corner.
One expert predicts prosperity. Another predicts disaster.
One influencer tells us everything is fine. Another says civilization is collapsing.
The result is a culture perpetually tossed by circumstances.
Paul described this condition long before the invention of the iPhone:
"So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes." Ephesians 4:14
Christians today face a unique challenge. We consume more information than any previous generation, yet most of it invites us to place greater confidence in earthly predictions than heavenly promises.
We can find ourselves checking stock market futures before opening Scripture. We trust polling data more than providence. We fear economic forecasts more than we trust God's faithfulness.
In subtle ways, we begin measuring God's promises against the circumstances surrounding us.
That is precisely what Calvin warns against.
Most Christians would never consciously worship an idol. Yet circumstances can become functional idols when they begin determining what we believe about God.
Think about how often we reason this way:
"If I can't see a solution, there probably isn't one."
"If the situation hasn't changed yet, God must not be working."
"If the door closed, God's promise must be dead."
These conclusions reveal something important. We are no longer interpreting circumstances through God's promises. We are interpreting God's promises through our circumstances.
Those interpretations are spiritually dangerous.
Think about the Israelites, who repeatedly fell into this trap.
God delivered them from Egypt through the plagues. He parted the Red Sea. He fed them from heaven.
Yet every new challenge caused panic. Every obstacle appeared larger than the God who had already proven Himself faithful.
The same tendency remains in our hearts today.
We forget yesterday's deliverance when confronted by today's difficulty.
Faith is often misunderstood. Faith does not mean pretending problems do not exist or that we do not have to acknowledge hardship.
Biblical faith does neither.
Abraham knew he was old. David knew Goliath was large. Daniel knew the lions were real. The disciples knew the storm was dangerous.
Faith is not the denial of reality, but rather the recognition that God is greater that the limitations of difficult circumstances.
Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians:
"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7
Notice Paul does not say we ignore sight. He says we do not walk by it. Sight informs us. Faith directs us.
We can find ourselves in a paradoxical situation as we are informed by God's promises but directed by our circumstances.
The result is constant instability.
One of God's most common methods of developing faith is delay.
Not denial but delay.
Abraham waited decades. Joseph waited years in slavery and prison. Israel waited centuries for the Messiah.
The delay itself is God's purpose.
We often assume faith grows when prayers are answered immediately but scripture teaches something different.
Faith grows when believers continue trusting during the waiting.
Peter writes:
"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” – 1 Peter 1:6-7
The cross proves that appearances can be deceiving.
No event in history looked more like defeat than the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The Messiah was arrested, His followers scattered, and He was beaten, mocked, and executed. Every visible indicator suggested failure. Yet what appeared to be Satan's greatest victory became God's greatest triumph.
Three days later, the empty tomb revealed that God had been working through circumstances that appeared hopeless. This is one of the great lessons of the gospel: God often works in ways that look contradictory before they become glorious.
Isaiah reminds us:
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8
Many believers abandon hope because they mistake delay for denial, difficulty for abandonment, and opposition for failure. Yet throughout Scripture, God repeatedly demonstrates that His purposes are often unfolding precisely when circumstances appear most discouraging.
The question is not whether contests will come. They will. Every believer eventually faces moments when God's promises and present circumstances appear to collide, and in those moments the real question becomes what we will do.
Will we magnify the obstacle, or will we magnify God?
The psalmist gives us the answer:
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear..." Psalm 46:1-2
Notice the order. God's presence comes before the absence of fear. Confidence is not produced by favorable circumstances; confidence is produced by a greater vision of God.
This is what Calvin understood. The greatest threat to faith is not opposition itself but allowing opposition to shrink our view of God's power.
Perhaps you are facing a situation today that contradicts God's promises. Maybe you have prayed for years without seeing change. Maybe your circumstances mock your hopes, and fear has become louder than faith. If so, remember Abraham. Remember Peter. Remember the empty tomb. And remember Calvin's warning.
The temptation is not merely to doubt the promise. The deeper temptation is to lower God in your estimation.
That is the challenge before every believer: Will you judge God by your circumstances, or will you judge your circumstances by God?
Faith begins where sight reaches its limits, and it is often in the very contest we fear most that God's power is displayed most clearly.
The obstacle before you has not diminished God's power. The delay has not weakened His promises.
The difficulty has not dethroned His sovereignty.
God remains exactly who He has always been, and that changes everything.
Brother and Sisters, I pray for a blessed season of making God big, in the valleys, on the mountains, and everywhere in between. May your faith be unwavering and may your reliance on God grow. Be well!
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