How Big Is Your God?

by Elder Teirrah McNair
(Hayward, California)

How Big is your God?

Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.
In this tremendous season of testing, we need a song of praise and a sure means of making our God bigger in our eyes. What better way to make Him bigger than to magnify Him with our thanksgiving.

I love the word magnify because it involves our sight. When we look at anything through a magnifying glass, it gets bigger in our sight. Our eyes send a message to our brains and we accept in our minds that that which was formerly one size has now been magnified or is bigger.

I remember the sheer joy that overtook a class of senior citizens I was teaching when I brought in magnifying sheets for each one of them. All they had to do was set the sheet over the printed page and the whole page was enlarged. We all shouted that Tuesday afternoon because what had previously been difficult to see was now magnified.

What happened in that classroom has to happen in all of our lives. We have to pick up the magnifier and accept without question the enlarged view of our God. According to David, thanksgiving is the magnifier. What that means is that the size of our God(in our eyes) is determined by the frequency and intensity of our thanksgiving.
So, how big is your God?

We live in a high tech society and most of us love those big screen televisions. The only downside is that the gloomy daily news is enlarged on that screen. Statistics on unemployment, reports of death and destruction are enlarged. Everything that is negative is spoken around the clock. The media enlarges everything negative and if we are not careful we will enlarge the negative too. We have to be careful even about the song we sing when the weather is extreme. When the world sings, “its an ugly day…look at those clouds”, we can’t join in. Our hearts’ song has to be “thanks be to my God, the weather maker who gives me shelter in the storm” .

The key here is to give thanks no matter what the weather looks like and no matter what we might be going through. If we apply the magnifier—thanksgiving to our loneliness then God looms larger. When we see our selves headed down a pathway of doubt, or worry or fear, we have to apply the magnifier and watch our God become larger right before our very eyes. When the banker, the landlord, the undertaker and the doctors show up with a bad report, we need our God to be big. We must give Him thanks.

I often refer to a television show I saw a few years back featuring basketball great, Shaquille O’Neal and his family. In one scene Shaquille and his 3 year old daughter were on their indoor basketball court. Every time she looked up at her great big daddy you could easily see that she was convinced that as long as big daddy Shaq was in the house---everything was going to be alright.

Our great big daddy God is magnified when we apply thanksgiving to the circumstances of our lives. So, give Him thanks and know that when He is enlarged, all that He is--- is enlarged in our lives. His joy in our hearts is bigger, his peace is bigger, his love is bigger, his wisdom is bigger, His grace is bigger, His protection is bigger, His strength is bigger, His righteousness is bigger.
So, how big is your God?

It takes practice to apply the magnifier and if you are not in the habit of giving thanks it just may take a moment or two to allow your vision to adjust. Answer the following questions as truthfully as possible and then allow the scriptures in this study to become your daily bread.

1. What is that one negative saying that seems to just come floating out of your mouth without your even thinking about it? For example,’ this job makes me sick’ or ‘I’m so broke I can’t pay attention’.

For the next 21 days begin to express thanksgiving in that area and expect-- really expect God to get bigger. Remember that the evidence of His being bigger will be more wisdom, more peace, more love, more patience etc. If your area of negativity is in your finances then begin to thank God for His provision; thank Him for giving you the will to be a good steward, thank Him for the character you are developing as you wait on Him.

Meditate on Matthew 12:34, Psalm 141:3, Psalms 19:14, Hebrews 13:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

2. Who is that one person in your life that you can’t seem to find anything good to say about them? I mean really think of someone who works your last nerve.
For the next 21 days begin to express thanksgiving for him or her and really expect God to get bigger than your feelings. Thank God for who they are, thank Him for allowing them to cross your path, thank God for His purpose being fulfilled in that relationship even if that person seems to be your sandpaper. (rubbing you the wrong way to smooth out all your rough edges) Be as specific as you can and be open to the Holy Spirit to direct you.

Meditate on Genesis 50:20; Psalm 56:11, Hebrews 12:15, Colossians 3:17, Philippians 4:6


Let's pray. Dear God. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for the promise that your Word never returns to you without accomplishing your purpose. Thank you for the blessings that will overtake me as I line up my life this month with your Word. Thank you for the difference this study will make in my life. I choose to be transformed and I trust you to walk and talk with me as my mind is renewed.
Thank you for ordering my steps today in Jesus name I pray, Amen.