John 1:50-51

Well, I suppose now is a good time to write a few lines explaining my choice of blog title, which, for those of you with short memories, is found at the top of this page. It was not, as some would use the word, a "random" selection, devoid of cognitive evaluation and subject only to the whims of my subconscious.

Neither, for the record, was it a self-deprecating commentary on the quality of the published material contained therein, although the statement, on its face, is most certainly true.

I made the choice, as it were, "on purpose."

A few years ago, at the breakfast table, Jonathon "all of a sudden" noticed that his younger brother Jeff was missing an ear. He asked me if Jeff's missing ear would ever 'grow back.' I replied that Jeff would only have two ears if God created a new one for him. Without pausing to reflect upon the metaphysical implications of what I had just said, Jonathon immediately put down his spoon and prayed, asking Jesus to heal Jeff's ear and make him "normal." Then he picked up his spoon and resumed eating, as if what he had just asked Jesus to do was no more unusual than any other "random" thing, like say, for example, eating breakfast.

Ever since roughly that time, I have been inspired about faith and, perhaps more accurately, the bigness of God's faithfulness. And my desire has been to see greater things than this, 'this' being what we observe and understand under the limitations of our five senses.

Consider the example of Abraham, who, "...with respect to the promise of God, did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith..."

Here is a man who had plenty of reasons to waver in unbelief:

• He went around most of his adult life telling people his name was Abraham, which being translated means, 'father of a multitude.' Then he had to explain that he didn't have many children...none, actually. Wouldn't that make him feel a little sheepish, perhaps?
• His wife, Sarah, to use the common vernacular, had gone through menopause. Sure, Ishmael had been born at this point (maybe), but wouldn't this minor detail been enough to give his faith reason for pause at some point?
• When the child of promise was born, God told him to kill him. Even this was no obstacle to Abraham's faith, because "he considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead."

There are plenty more reasons, I'm sure, but everything Abraham observed and perceived was overwhelmed by his vision of God's faithfulness. May the same be able to be said about me, and all of us who call upon the name of Jesus. And, may we be in a position to see 'Greater Things'.