Heading into this past weekend, I was pumped to watch my Appalachian State Mountaineers take on Penn State in Happy Valley. Having traveled over ten hours with my Dad and brothers to get there, we all just wanted to see App State make the game interesting.
Knowing ASU had a sophomore quarterback starting his first game, it was hard to expect too much, but I thought they needed to keep it low-scoring by running the ball well and playing tight defense.
Surprisingly, APP State exceeded all of our expectations by playing way better than we hoped...and the game turned out to be far more competitive and high-scoring than we could have imagined.
As a very small group of fans wearing black and gold in a crowd of over 105,000, my family and I had no idea the game would provide so much for us to cheer for.
We witnessed a returned kickoff in the first quarter, a surprising tied score at the half, an amazing comeback in the 4th quarter, and the ultimate opportunity to upset Penn State in overtime.
Although Appalachian State didn't get the win, Saturday's spectacular game went far beyond what we ever thought it would.
As much as we hope for sports to exceed our expectations, when we follow Jesus we experience the deep, satisfying, and awe-inspiring power of God within us, which leads to so much more than we can ever imagine.
What He’s able to do in and through us as we daily yield to His Spirit and trust in His strength to guide us, is better than we could ever ask for or envision Him doing.
A life of surrender provides countless moments that blow us away because God’s love and power go way beyond our comprehension.
In Ephesians 3:16-20, the apostle Paul provides this prayer for spiritual growth, which should fill us with hope as we trust God to exceed our expectations:
“I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
"And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.
"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
"Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray You will empower me with inner strength through Your Spirit and help me understand how incredible Your love truly is. I believe You are powerful and able to accomplish infinitely more than I might ask or think. Please help me to live with that hope. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
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