As a dad, whenever I would tell one of my kids what they were capable of, and they questioned me as though I was crazy, it was unpleasant.  I knew they could do far more than they realized, and I desired that they experience more and realize their fullest potential.  To do that, they would need to believe what I told them and be able to imagine themselves as capable according to what I was saying to them.  If not, they could never realize the possibilities and opportunities before them.

What would have the power to hinder them would be their small thinking resulting from rejecting a more reliable and objective source’s opinion and words outside themselves.

This happens a lot to believers in Christ regarding calling and spiritual possibilities.  It happens even more regularly when small thinking is allowed to be equated with humility in some way.  When someone adapts the idea that by thinking small, they are being humble and pleasing God, it can set up a roadblock in their imagination that hinders the flow of faith for just how far the Holy Spirit wants to take them in their calling and purpose.

God does not make us do what He desires for us to do.  We are invited into the purpose He has called us to.  God is at work in us both to will and do for God’s good pleasure, which is true.  At work in us in the operative key here.  But we must bring our faith and submission to His call.

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

You can be placed in a situation where you receive an abundance of spiritual equipping for faith and practice and still end up not fulfilling what God has specifically for you due to small thinking.

In his first encounter with God (Exodus 4), Moses stumbled over this matter of small thinking.  He argued with God about his perceived insufficiencies despite God demonstrating supernaturally how He would equip Moese for what He asked him to do.

God anointed the shepherd’s staff in Moses’ hands to be an instrument of demonstration of the authority Moses was being given to do what he was being asked to do, but Moses was allowing his low opinion of himself to interfere with what God was instructing him.  So Moses debated with God concerning His choice of using him.  Moses argued why God might be mistakenly asking him to go to Pharoah and the children of Israel.

Whenever God speaks to our hearts and reveals His desires, it means that if we allow our imaginations to embrace what he says so that we see it in our imagination to prepare ourselves for action, we can do whatever He has asked us to do.  But suppose we allow ourselves to think it is humble to debate with God as though He could not possibly know our limitations and lack of abilities and, therefore, has missed it in selecting us. In that case, we will hinder the flow of obedience in faith.

God never asks us to partner with Him without equipping us for the task and resourcing us accordingly.  He does not call us based on what we bring to the table regarding talents, skills, and abilities in the natural.  He calls us according to His divine power and ability to empower us and enable us to be and to do according to His good pleasure.

Humility is best defined as agreeing with God in everything He reveals to be true, both in His word and in His speaking to our hearts.  Humility should not be defined as small thinking on our part.  Humility should be seen as relying on God to speak to us and to show us what we are truly capable of when we walk with Him in full assurance of faith according to what He desires of us in this life.  It allows Him to awaken our imaginations to all that is possible in Christ Jesus according to the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Do you know what God desires from you?  Has He tried to reveal it and encountered a debate with you about it?  Did you question whether it was God because it seemed bigger than you see yourself capable of being?  Do not measure it based on who you think yourself to be, but rather see it based on who He is and what He is capable of in your life.  Reject small thinking and let God be God in your life.