Do Big Things, Think Big God

We all want to do big things in life, don't we? It's somehow embedded in all of us, this bizarre desire.

But let's pause and think for a moment.

What exactly do we mean by doing 'big' things? How and by what do we define 'doing big' anyway? Is getting your name on the front page of the newspaper for contributing a huge sum of donation considered as doing a 'big' thing? What about the guy who contributed RM1 to the beggar along the street? Most of us, if not all would define doing big things based on human standards and perception. Consequently, the act of comparison is inevitable because that is the measurement by which we use when we based it on human standards.

More often than not, we have the right intention, which is to make an impact in this world, but not necessarily the right reason or purpose for doing so. Our reason, whatever it may be, is the one thing that will drive us to go the distance to do great things in life. Therefore, if our reason is not one that holds weight, it will not take us through to the end.

I was talking to a friend sometime last week and as we talked, he shared his passion to do big things in life. Yet, somewhere in the midst of that conversation, I could also sense a certain bitterness caused by many hurts, disappointments and dissatisfaction. I believe most of us are like that. As much as we desire to do great things in our life time, we also come face to face with great trials and tests. If we don't know how to handle these tests, we will end up with constant headaches that will eventually snowball into a deep sense of resentment.

The secret about doing big things in life is this - we must first be able to pick ourselves up and walk to the altar where we acknowledge that we are small but He is big, only then can we proceed on. That is the basic step that we need to take. If we can't come to that point of humility and surrendering, we open ourselves up to the darts of bitterness, dissatisfaction and disappointments.

Why people choose him to lead but not me? Why am I still in this position after years of loyal service? Why am I not promoted? Why should I help others when others don't help me? What is the point of doing good when all I receive is nothing? I don't feel appreciated, what's the use of going on anyway?

The root or the source of these questions, I believe, stems from the aforementioned earlier - our reason and purpose. If our reason for doing big is to get something in return, for instance the praise and acknowledgement of men, then we will eventually come to the point where we will say and ask ourselves "I don't feel appreciated, what's the use of going on anyway?"... and if our reason for doing big things in life is to get constant promotion, then we may end up asking ourselves "Why people choose him to lead but not me? Why am I still in this position after years of loyal service? Am I not qualified enough?".

God made us uniquely different, each with different gifts. Some with 1 talent, while others may have more than just 1. The question is not so much as to why person A has more talent than person B, but more than that, the question we should be asking ourselves is what are we doing with the talent/s that we have in our hands? God, in the first place, need not have given us any talent but because He is gracious, he gave us anyway. So, let's not point finger at God or other people for that matter but let's take an honest look at ourselves first.

What I'm trying to say is this;

If our reason for doing big things in life is not driven by our BIG God, then we will end up in a big mess instead. Know this - God wants us to do big things, things that can impact the world for His glory. But more often than not, we get too caught up in comparing ourselves with others that we end up, knowingly or unknowingly, being self-centred. As a result, our self-centredness blinds our spiritual eyes. We may not realize it but when we dwell in our self-centredness, we are in fact stealing God of His glory. The challenge then for all of us is to see beyond our self-centredness and to move instead towards the centre of His will.

God made us uniquely different, each with different gifts.

Are we using them for His glory or are we comparing ourselves with
the world for our own personal gain?