The Abundance of God That Even Coffee Cannot Surpass

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.

Ephesians 3:20 (NAS)

            Have you ever been to a coffee house or a restaurant where you ordered something off the menu and it blew your mind? I ate at a venue in Atlanta that had the most amazing southern food. Our feast included buttery biscuits, collard greens that were perfectly salty with chunks of ham, and crunchy fried chicken straight from the fryer. Even the brewed coffee was some of the best I have ever tasted and of course the cheesecake so thick and rich, I could only eat a portion. If you can recall a feast this fabulous, I am sure you are able to recount all the details of the finger lickin’ treats and would do all you could to be able to return to this table.

            If you are craving something like this, this is exactly what you can receive when you choose to dine at the table with Christ. You are promised to receive extravagant grace when you make your requests known to Him (Philippians 4:6 CSB). The more it becomes habit to spend time with God on a daily basis, the more you can expect to begin to see what He has in store for you. When you are in His Word, in prayer, and worship and praise, on a regular schedule, the more you will begin to see His perspective in your life and the abundance of love He has to serve up to you.

            Ephesians 3:20 is such an incredible verse to study. Exceedingly, superabundantly, beyond all you can even imagine is the phrase that Paul is sharing with the Ephesians and those of us following Christ today. This verse challenges us to trust God with our wildest dreams and expect Him to blow our minds when we see what He accomplishes. God’s power is so immense and He desires to use it for our benefit. When we let ourselves experience the love of God, we can experience His full power and He will receive all the glory for it. Just like a good cook.

            The Greek word that explains exceedingly, superabundantly, beyond is hyperekperissou, which translates as “all things to do exceedingly above what we ask”. It is a compound word that is the strongest word possible to indicate abundance. Think of this word broken into parts. “Hyper” meaning above. “Ek” adding an idea of exhaustlessness and “perissou” being over and above. This word can conjure up ideas like hyperdrive, traveling farther and faster; hyperactive, being overly active; hyperthermia, over elevated heating of the body. Each of these examples helps us have a better understanding of exactly the type of gifts God wants to give us when we receive this promise.

            In Ephesians 3, Paul tells us that God is begging us to tell Him what we want so He can give you even more. Priscilla Shirer calls it, "way past, way past". Our remarkable God knows us better than we know ourselves and is prepared to respond to our sizeable requests. In fact, He is already putting events into place for matters we have not even asked for yet. He knows our wildest imaginings, our craziest daydreams, and our strongest nightmares. He is not afraid of our questions and our frustrations. His grace is abundant and He “can” and “will” do dynamic things for us. Don’t be afraid to ask God for what you want. He is waiting.

            When we tune our lives to sit and be at rest with God each day, we can begin to experience this love of God. And, when we experience this love of God, we begin to see the fullness and power of Him as well. Sadly, though, instead of choosing to rest in His presence, we look for gifts from the world. We look around at our circumstances and at what is around us for what we need and neglect looking to God for what He is able to give us. This is why addiction is so prevalent. This is where people are looking for their superabundance, which they will never receive. When we look to what we can buy, how we can have things better and bigger, we continue to look in the wrong place. We can receive it, though, when we look to God for it.

            If all of this seems too good to be true, we have to remember that God’s plan is perfect. He has planned out everything that has, is, and is going to happen for His glory. Each request we speak, each prayer we voice, each dream we declare, has already been known by Him. That’s why at the beginning of Ephesians 3:20 Paul says, “now to Him who is able”. He is able to meet our requests when we direct them to Him. God is not here to do our bidding, though. He is interested in meeting all our needs so that He is brough glory through them all. He will see our needs, and meet them in His timing and His glory will shine through our lives because of it.

            When my wildest dream was to become and elementary school administrator, God stepped in and provided and opportunity. I became the Assistant Principal of a school that had been in my town for decades. That first year was challenging and joyous. Full of success and failure. And, at the end of that first year I received my first cancer diagnosis. Could this really be part of God’s plan for my new administrative career. Yes, yes indeed, because this diagnosis and following cancer journey strengthened me as an educator and created very strong educators with whom I worked. We worked through school together, holding each other up, giving each other strength, laughing when we were really down, and enjoying a lot of good potluck lunches. We became a strong school together and did great things for kids. Definitely part of God’s great plan for my life, and for other’s lives, and for the work we were doing. Superabundantly, He created me to be the best administrator I could be and my career in elementary education was successful and fulfilling. I recently spent time at that school helping out and had one very effective educator tell me thank you for making her into the teacher she is today. Exceedingly, superabundantly, beyond!

If you are not in the habit of spending time with God and presenting to Him your most treasured secrets and asking Him for your most ridiculous dreams to come true, why not give it a chance? He wants us to let our requests be made known to Him (Philippians 4:6 CSB). He wants to show you His deity through answering your requests. Go ahead, give it a try but be prepared to be exceedingly, superabundantly, beyond surprised.

Prayer:

            Lord, Your power is great and available for me to see and experience. Send Your Holy Spirit to provide the courage I need to seek You in all my requests. Help me to keep my eyes and ears open to see and hear Your answers and to remember to give You all the glory when they come shining through.

Today’s Challenge:

Write down and date your craziest prayer request. Don’t be afraid to ask God for all you want, then give Him glory and praise in advance of His answer. Have faith your requests will be answered and be open to them being answered differently than you might expect.