Think Big

I've been challenging myself to think bigger lately.  It's really easy to fall into routine.  You do the same thing day in, day out.  You know exactly what's expected of you, and exactly how to do it.  You know when your alarm clock will ring, when you have to be at work, when you'll finish, what your job entails, etc...   and if you don't watch out, it all becomes standard and, dare I say, boring.

I'm not at the point of boredom, certainly not, but I do find myself falling into routine.  It's easy.  I find myself knowing exactly what's expected of me at work, at home, at church, with my friends...  I know how to do it well (or at least fool people into thinking I know what I'm doing, haha).  Worst of all though, I find that I sometimes fall into the routine of praying the same things...over and over, so much so that they've lost their meaning.

Hence, the title of this post.  I think an important cure for this trap of 'the routine' is to think big.  It's when we get tunnel-visioned, caught up in only our own little worlds (remind you of a Matthew West song?) that we start to fall into the ordinary and unimaginative.  We see only our own needs, our own desires, and only what we want to achieve.  We forget to see the bigger picture - that there are people in need; that we can do so much good with small gestures of love and kindness; that spending time at work and with family are blessings, not obligations.  Most importantly though, we forget that God is calling us to more.

Here's one of my absolute favourite quotes:

To sinful patterns of behaviour that never get confronted and changed,

Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed -

Until weeks become months,

And months turn into years,

And one day you're looking back on a life of deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had,

Great bold prayers you never prayed,

Exhilarating risks you never took,

Sacrificial gifts you never offered,

Lives you never touched,

And you're sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul,

And forgotten dreams,

And you realize there was a world of desperate need,

And a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself -

You see the person you could have become but did not;

You never followed your calling.

You never got out of the boat.

- Gregg Levoy

I don't want to be the guy that misses out on 'a great God calling me to be part of something bigger than myself.'  Hence the challenge - think big.  Think God's kind of big.