Above and Beyond

I know I tend to go on and on about it, but SERIOUSLY!!! We serve a God whose plans and ways are ridiculously above and beyond all we could ever dare to think, ask or imagine! Even when we release our heart and mind to think big, dream wild and conceive the greatest visions ever...God's final plans and ways just seem to blow these human attempts out of the water and make them look like puny little dead end thoughts. And I love that! Sometimes I even take it as a challenge..."Let me think of the craziest best possible scenario for this situation we are facing and then I know God will supersede that beyond measure!" Cheeky? Maybe a little. Bold? For sure. Faithful? Totally! After all, if we hold on to our ways without submitting fully to God and without completely surrendering ourselves to him, then we're not only holding ourselves back from the blessings he has in store but we're holding our lives back from his purposes and his will.For the majority of this year we have been passionately pursuing breakthrough in a few particular areas of our life. In a way they all intertwine together and relate to one another, so one breakthrough would be like a domino effect on all the others. I had ideas on how these breakthroughs could potentially manifest in our life, and although I surrendered to God in my prayers and released it all to him, I still unintentionally had a limited paradigm in which I thought these breakthroughs and blessings and promises would manifest.Now, God is faithful and his word is truth. What he speaks will happen. Maybe not when we want it to happen or how we want it to happen, but it WILL happen. Sometimes the way he likes to do things is completely unpredictable...yet in hindsight is the best possible outcome of the situation! Our recent circumstances required some huge breakthroughs. Let me say straight up that God has released those breakthroughs in our life!!! It has been like a dam wall breaking and the floodgates of heaven are open and flowing, praise God! But the way God chose to release these promises to us was completely unfathomable prior to their existence. His plans and ways in releasing us into this next season was not just left of field...it was a completely different field altogether! In fact, I think we were playing a totally different game, a game I have never heard of and don't know or understand the rules. Actually, there are no rules, whatever he says, goes!His breakthrough has turned out to be on a completely different level, in a completely different realm. At first glance this could have been casually overlooked as just a little aside, not really along the path we were travelling. In extreme reflection it could have even been received as an 'attack' or a 'battle' trying to stop us from receiving the breakthrough, hindering our progress on his path. But when we remain in his presence and close to him, we can sense his leading and follow the gentle Holy Spirit whispers. No matter how crazy the circumstances may be, the peace he brings when we boldly step out and follow his lead gives us all the assurance we need that we are in his will and on his path.Our life has been turned upside down in the recent weeks, for the better! It has been chaotic and completely unexpected, but the situation we are living in now and the season we have just entered is beyond my wildest dreams! God's promises, provision and breakthroughs don't always come in the form we think or even pray for. Sometimes we can't even see the correlation until we look back and view it from our new standing point.I love the verses in Isaiah 55:8-9 - that God's ways and thoughts are so far higher than ours. What's the significance of them being high? It means that he has the big picture and he is looking down over the entire situation - not just our present, not just our past and future, not even our whole life - but he has the entire view of the world we live in, our relationships and connections, the Kingdom and and of course his divine and supreme plans, purposes and will. Kind of puts our 'ways and thoughts' in perspective doesn't it! Yet don't let that thought make you feel small, it should make you feel significant! God's plans and purposes for your life are so crucial to his overall will and plan for his Kingdom that you play a pivotal part and your role is necessary and vital in so many ways.It's so important that we surrender to God and submit ourselves to him wholeheartedly. No matter what that looks like or how that manifests. I look back now on what I thought the best possible outcome for our scenario was, and it now looks so small and pitiful compared to what God has done and his ultimate plans all along. And in hindsight I can see how he has set us up and played us like a piece of a strategic game, ready to declare 'check mate' to the world around us. If I had kept my blinkers on and continued pursuing the path that I thought we were heading in, we would not only have remained in the circumstances we were in, but we would have missed the boat to this new breakthrough and season altogether. Sure, I believe God works all things out and eventually we would have ended up on the path he has set before us, but isn't it so much easier and smoother when we jump on board at the first call to set sail? We didn't know where we were going, we didn't even know there was a boat waiting and a journey ahead, but my goodness we are so glad we were walking along that dock and heard the captains call. What a fun, spontaneous and completely unexpected journey it has been to where we are now. God never ceases to blow my mind, not just in his ways and character but in his goodness, kindness and generosity! He is the God of above and beyond!