For the
first time ever, I was able to take my shoes off at my house and walk around in
my socks. I have carpet, and my feet are thankful.
It’s the final
countdown for my house (cue music). I
still don’t have an exact move-in date, but I have carpet now. What more do I need?
 |
| Dave testing the softness. |
This is
what I need: I need to clean out my closet at my parents’ house and pack up my
stuff. But I haven’t done it yet because I’m too busy being in awe. Or maybe I’m just procrastinating what I
think is an overwhelming project, but still—I’m in awe. I’m in awe that this house really happened.
I’m in awe that I was able to experience the “God margin.”
 |
| "God Margin"--the space between your resources & God's resources. It's when something is just out of your reach. |
Last
October my Thursday morning bible study group studied Gideon: Your Weakness, God’s Strength by Priscilla Shirer.
Priscilla introduced me to the idea of “God margin.”
God margin,
she said, is the space between your resources and God’s resources. It’s when
something is just out of your reach.
It’s when you can’t do it within in your own means. It’s when you would
most certainly fail unless God provides and unless God lifts you up and unless
God fights your fight for you.
In the
story of Gideon fighting the Midianites with only 300 Israelites, Priscilla
pointed out that the ratio would have been 450 Midianites against 1 Israelite.
450 to 1. She concluded that God “often allows us to be shorthanded” for a
purpose.[1]
Gideon and the Isrealites won the battle even though they were outrageously
outnumbered. Who do you think the Israelites gave the credit to? They couldn’t
even pretend like they won that battle in their own strength. They knew it was God’s power that won the
victory. They knew it was God’s resources and not their own. They experienced
what happens in the God margin.
You see, in
the God margin is an unseen supply. If we are Christians and we have the Holy
Spirit living inside us, then we have access to the power and provision that
God will pour out on His children. If we live in the God margin, we get to see
God do big things in our lives. We
remember the unseen supply within us instead of being distracted by what is
around us.[2]
At one
point last fall, I nicknamed my house “Rome” because as we know, Rome wasn’t
built in a day, and I was so sick of drudging through the long process. Then I
felt guilty about giving my house a derogatory nickname when I read that Angela
Thomas nicknamed her house “The Blessing.” When she was a single mom, God
provided that house for her—the house was tiny and old, but she knew she and
her children were living there only by the grace of God, so she called it “The
Blessing.”[3] I
then stopped calling my house “Rome” because it wasn’t showing my gratitude to
God and was only fueling my frustration with being shorthanded in my knowledge
and my funds as I built the house.
But now I
think of my house as “My God Margin House.” Somebody want to make me a sign
that says that? :)
God bless you as you endeavor to live in the God margin!
#seeingtheunseen
 |
| Carpet is in, so we're now ready for the registers. |
 |
| Dad checking things out... |
[1]
Shirer, Priscilla. (2013). Gideon: Your
Weakness, God’s Strength. Nashville,
Tennesse: LifeWay Press
[2]
Shirer, Priscilla. (2013). Gideon: Your
Weakness, God’s Strength. Nashville,
Tennesse: LifeWay Press.
[3]
Thomas, Angela. (2007). My Single Mom Life: Stories & Practical
Lessons for Your Journey. Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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