Max Lucado shares a story that George Washington Carver asked God, “Why did you make the universe?” But God answered, “You want to know too much for that little mind of yours. Ask me something More Your Size.” So, Carver rephrased, “What was man made for?” Again He said, “Little man, you are still asking for more than you can handle.” So, Carver asked the last question, “Why did you make the peanut?” Then God said, “Well, George, that’s More Your Size.” And he told him. Carver went on to extract more than three hundred products from the peanut. Now, Lucado offers this story in Cure for the Common Life to encourage people to find their “peanut—the tailor-made task that honors God, helps others, and thrills you” –what Lucado calls the Sweet Spot and what I refer to as anavah, our God-Given Space.

Like Carver, my desire, when attempting to ask life’s Big Questions is to go to the Source who knows it all; however, my little mind isn’t always capable of handling His big answers, so at times, I believe God says, “Julie, you are asking for more than you can handle. You need to ask questions that are More Your Size.” Pondering my yearning to know all the answers, I was reminded of John Eldredge’s insight in Walk With God that perhaps I should be asking smaller questions, questions that are More My Size and then cultivate a God-Listening Heart for His answers. “If we could learn from him the life he wants us to live—the details, the pace of life, the places we are to invest ourselves and the places we are not to—we would be in his will. And there we would find [a flourishing] life.”

So, perhaps I need to revisit a few of my recent questions to God and pare them down so He can say, “Well, Julie, that’s More Your Size. Now, let me offer you some answers.” Rather than some of the big life questions I thought had already been answered in my life such as: What is the best career for me? Where do you want me to invest myself? Which house am I supposed to live in? Who are you asking me to serve?, perhaps, as Eldredge encourages, I need to be in a posture of Quiet Surrender in order to hear the Whispered Solutions that come from simpler questions like: What do you want me to do today? Perhaps, that’s More My Size.

One of the personal struggles for me is that I am very task-oriented, ask anyone who knows me, which makes it a challenge to Take It Slow enough to edit and simplify my questions, but also to quiet my heart. Eldredge challenges, “I find that to hear the voice of God, we must be in a posture of Quiet Surrender. Starting with small questions helps us learn to do that…To hear that gentle whisper, we have to settle down. Shut out all the drama. Quiet our hearts…Pause and listen [that’s so hard!]. Repeat the question.” Lord, thank you so much for your grace. I’ll keep trying to ask for your help in trying to figure out life. Let me try again!

“God, what is my next step? Not, what am I supposed to be doing five years from now, but what are you asking me to do next?” I know, as Eldredge shares, “Life doesn’t magically come to us. We have to make ourselves available to it. There is a lifestyle that allows us to receive the life of God. I know that I will live more intimately with Jesus and follow his voice, I will have a much better chance of finding the [flourishing] life I long for. I know it. If I will listen to his voice and let him set the pace, if I will cooperate in my transformation, I will be a much happier [person].” Then, perhaps I will be ready to ask the bigger questions like “What is the life you want me to live?”

Deep inside, I hope that all of us Christ followers desire to hear His voice and to follow His will for our lives, but at times it’s challenging to know the right-sized questions to ask. We desire to live our anavah, but we lack the Holy Confidence that we are actually following Him instead of getting ahead of Him. Perhaps you have some wisdom to offer as you’ve already Wrestled through some of these Big Questions. Would you consider sharing in the comments below so that we may all learn?

References:

Eldredge, J. (2008). Walking with God: Talk to him. Hear from him. Really. Thomas Nelson.

Lucado, M. (2005). Cure for the common life: Living in your sweet spot. W Pub. Group.

Voysey, S. (2023, December 17). Christmas dilemma. Our Daily Bread. Retrieved from https://odb.org/2023/12/17/christmas-dilemma