So You Can’t Boast

Picture the scene: a newly married man with his young bride. They live on a 197,000,000 sq. mile plot of land. They’re the only people on the planet. The dream honeymoon. The Almighty commands them to take dominion of it all. Tame it & fill it. And God wasn’t joking.

Now, picture a different scene: 30AD, 11 disciples are charged to go throughout that same world, preaching the Gospel to every inhabitant. Once again, a vast commission.

Both the dominion mandate of Genesis, & the Great Commission in the Gospels are staggering tasks. God loves to ask His people to do things far beyond the seeming strength & capacity of their ability. He has Noah build a boat to save all of earth’s species, before boat-building was really a thing. He has Moses take on Pharaoh, with just his staff and a promise to deliver the Hebrews. He has David fight Goliath. He whittles down Gideon’s army to 300, to battle the superior Midianites. He commands Joshua to conquer Jericho’s formidable fortress by marching Israel around it silently. 

Why does God love to give such massive commands to His people? So that when the victory is won, when the commission is fulfilled, when the mandate is accomplished, when the battle is over, God alone gets the glory. 

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]So that when the victory is won, when the commission is fulfilled, when the mandate is accomplished, when the battle is over, God alone gets the glory. [/epq-quote]

God has called you to do things that to your earthly eyes can seem (and in fact are) beyond the scope of your ability. This shouldn’t swallow you up with despair. It should spur you onward in humble, faith-filled obedience. God never calls you to something without also pouring out upon you His Holy Spirit that you might “labor, striving according to his working, which works in [you] mightily (Col. 1:29).” Look at all that God’s called you to do, then rejoice. God intends to do great and mighty things in and through you. Far beyond what you can imagine, and far beyond your capacity. He does this so that when He accomplishes it, all that you can boast in is the faithfulness, power, and goodness of your God.