Who expands?

We make room for God to move in us by emptying our lives of the things that are taking our focus away from God and fixing our eyes on our heavenly Father, our Provider. One of the names the Hebrews had for God was “Jehovah-Jireh” (YHWH-Yireh) which means “The LORD Will Provide” (see Genesis 22:14). To be expanded, we need to trust in His provision; for salvation, for our needs, for healing, for space in our lives, and the courage to reach out to the lost and hurting.

ASK YOURSELF THIS: Is God your provider? Or is it your wage, beauty, hard work, or spouse?

Expansion is a season where we can take notice of where we look for provision. By laying down these worldly providers, we allow Him to move in us. Until we are willing to give up our false providers and trust and act on what’s asked of us, we won’t be expanded. The good news is that giving up these false providers won’t leave us shorthanded—God can do abundantly more than we could imagine with our little or our lots (Eph. 3:20-21, Matthew 17:20-21).

Expansion is also a paradoxical season because while we choose to give in faith, our hearts, vision, souls, and lives are also expanded. As we turn our hearts from fear and scarcity and entrust all that we have to the wisest steward – Jesus– we will see His Kingdom show in us, and our hearts will expand to make room for what God is doing.

Let’s enter this season with hearts willing to hear from the God who wants to make room for us (and all the world) because He says we matter. And because God speaks that every person matters, His heart is always to reach out and bring more people into His Kingdom today. He wants to make room in our hearts to speak to us, change and fill us with love for the world.

ASK YOURSELF THIS: Am I expecting God to expand me/our community during this season?

In this expansion season, we invite you to explore faith and generosity as we seek to bring God’s Kingdom to earth.