So much more

It's strange how a recurring phrase or thought can jump into one's mind at odd moments over the course of time.  A phrase which has come to me on a number of occasions over the years is, "so much more."

My sabbatical has given me lots of opportunity for reflection, and I recently found myself looking back to an event which changed my life when I was just 5 years of age.  I was tremendously shy as a child, and although I did ok at school there was certainly nothing about me to make me stand out from the crowd.  In fact my parents once went to a school parents' evening and some of my teachers didn't know who I was - I was one of those quiet pupils who hid at the back of the class!  Yet for some reason, God had his eye on me and at the tender age of 5, I committed my life to following Jesus.

Although I didn't suddenly become an extrovert or develop great confidence overnight, I knew that Jesus was my constant companion, and he has been the solid rock on which my life has been built.  I've made plenty of mistakes over the years, and still find myself doing and saying things which I regret.  Yet God has been so gracious, and I can look back in amazement at what has happened in my life, not least that God called me to be a church leader.  He has given me the courage and abilities I needed to accomplish what I couldn't do in my own strength.

And yet, that phrase "so much more" has kept dropping into my mind.  What I believe it means is that whatever I have so far experienced of God's love, grace and power in my life, and even though I have grown so much in my personal relationship with God, there is "so much more" yet to be experienced.

I was reminded of this recently as I re-read a book I bought some years ago.  It was written by Argentinian evangelist and pastor, Claudio Freidzon, entitled "Holy Spirit, I am Hungry For You."  The book was written during the great spiritual revival in Argentina in the 1990s.  In the book he writes,

'Imagine for a moment that you approach the ocean nearest your home and that with a little cup you pick up a small amount of water.  Such is the distance that exists between what we know of God and what he himself is.  A small amount in a great ocean.' 

I find that thought both tremendously challenging and enormously exciting.  I do feel that I have grown so much in my relationship with and understanding of God, and I have experienced his love, grace and power over the years in many different situations.  And yet I know that I have barely scratched the surface!  The big question I must ask is, am I really hungry for more of God?  Am I truly committed to discovering more of the untapped riches of God?

Whoever we are, whether we have known and walked with God for many years, or whether we hardly know him at all, the phrase "so much more" calls out as a challenge to all of us.  And we have the encouragement of Jesus' words,

'Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, the door will be opened.'

I don't know about you, but I long to experience the "so much more" of God.