There’s always MORE.
More than meets the eye. More to the story. Literally EVERYthing is … more interesting than it looks. More complex than it appears. More valuable than it seems.
Fact is: there’s MORE to EVERYTHING than we can ever know. Almighty God hides way more than He reveals. He manifests way more than we’re ever aware. He knows way more than He tells. He sees way more than we observe. Always. Don’t be so smug. There’s more of what you DON’T know than what you do.
Case in point, let’s look at Acts, Chapter 9. There was Ananias, sittin’ with the saints in Damascus, hiding behind closed doors and shuttered windows. Rumor had it that there was a certain violent Pharisee roaming about—and if this man found any Jesus-followers, whether men or women, he had the authority to take them bound—kicking and screaming—to Jerusalem. It may be safe to assume that Ananias had no intention of putting himself in harm’s way, to be out and about—and spotted by this clear and present danger to the early Christians.
But in Verse 10, we read that God suddenly appeared to Ananias in a vision and called him by name. (Just like Moses!) “Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for … in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias (YOU!) come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” (Acts 9:11-12 BSB)
Ananias’ first thought might have been, “What?! A ‘man from Tarsus’??!! As if I don’t know EXACTLY who ‘this man’ is! We’ve been hiding from this guy, and now in a vision he’s already seen MY FACE??!!” (Talk about the speed of 1st Century A.D. social media!)
“But (with all due respect) Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” (Acts 9:13-14 BSB)
How very Moses-like. The LORD spoke to him directly, and his first response was an argument. Can you hear the fear in his voice? The point is: what Ananias DIDN’T know was that the Saul he thought he “knew” was not this same man that God was directing him to find. Everything had changed on that Damascus Road, and Ananias didn’t know the whole story. Yet.
The LORD responded to his argument much like He responded to Moses … “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” (Acts 9:15-16 BSB)
It makes me wonder. When, exactly, did God call Saul, the Jewish terrorist, to be “His chosen instrument?” We know that the light didn’t suddenly dawn on the LORD, as well as Saul, on the road to Damascus—when He saw who it was He had struck down. No. God had handpicked Saul to become Paul back when he was chasing down Christians—while still “breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the LORD …” (Acts 9:1)
Who’s breathing out threats in YOUR life? Who is it that makes YOUR life miserable day after day? Has someone’s cruel ridicule caused YOU to cower in fear? Stop for a moment and consider that … there may be MORE to the story. Jesus Himself may be dealing with YOUR tormentor in ways you cannot yet see. Your enemy may be, right NOW, a “Paul” in the making.
Know THIS for sure: there’s way more going on in the world … and in YOUR world … than what you observe. There’s more to your story—there’s more mercy, more miracles in the making than what you can imagine! Right NOW!
- Gehazi! There’s more to your story! Though you were frightened by the enemy armies you could see poised for battle all around you, Elisha’s faith was fixed on the Invisible GOD. “‘Don’t be afraid … those who are with us are MORE than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:16-17 NIV)
- Job! There’s more to YOUR story! You suffered so, and you thought you were all alone. You cried, “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book … forever!” (Job 19:23-24 NKJV) Little did you know or see the mighty cloud of witnesses all around you! That your story of faithfulness WOULD be written in a book—forever! And that, in it, countless generations—of US—WOULD find inspiration for our own unshakeable faith and hope!
- Stephen! There’s more to YOUR story! As the stones smashed your body, each one bringing you a step closer to Heaven, you saw MORE! The LORD in His Glory! But, wait … Stephen! There was MORE than what you could even see there on the threshold of eternity. Standing there, with the robes of your executioners around his feet, was Saul—the very ONE who, as Paul, would later walk 10,000 miles on Roman roads to spread the Gospel of THIS SAME JESUS you were dying for! What you couldn’t see with your dying eyes was the “MORE” … that was THERE all along.
Here’s the thing: our faith determines how much MORE there is to our story. If we deny Jesus, the Christ (God forbid), if we disregard His commands and dismiss His WORD … then THIS is all the good we get. This life, THIS existence is as good as it will ever be for us. THIS is all the joy we’ll ever have. ALL the peace we’ll ever possess. ALL the love we’ll ever know. AND … THIS is ALL the heaven we’ll ever see.
Make no mistake—heaven is no myth, and hell is no joke. EVERYONE lives forever … SOMEwhere.
But when we submit to GOD … when we willingly put our lives into the Hands of Jesus, the Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, ETERNAL ONE—then we place our small finite selves into the proximity of His INFINITE MORE! We discover there’s exceedingly MORE to THIS life than what we could ever comprehend—“things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” (Job 42:3 KJV)
Abundantly MORE joy, MORE peace, MORE love available to us NOW—and MORE yet in the eternal, unfathomable, indescribable world without end!
Prayer: Dear Jesus, we thank You for “the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which (You) destined for our glory before time began … as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.’” (1 Corinthians 2:7-9 BSB). Amen.
