November 15
Reach
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ––Matthew 28:18-20
In boxing, one of the metrics of a good fighter is reach—or wingspan. This is measured by holding one’s arms away from the body and measuring from fingertip to fingertip. Typically, a person’s reach is equal to their height; if reach is greater than eight, a boxer is said to have a gorilla reach. The longer a boxer’s reach, the more potentially dangerous he or she is.
The same can be true of God’s men: the greater our reach, the more dangerous good we can do. Poet Robert Browning said, “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,” and I agree. In the world’s eyes (and presumably Browning’s), this means we should strive for goals that are slightly out of reach—one’s we don’t think we can grasp. That’s good advice, and I believe it’s also biblical. Jesus laid down the challenge when He said,
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ––John 14:12
That’s intriguing, right? Jesus is saying we will do greater works than what He did because the Holy Spirit is coming upon His Church. And “greater” infers further and wider: to the ends of the Earth. The payoff comes in what Jesus says next:
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. ––John 14:13-14
Be honest: Are you a bit skeptical that you can do greater works than Jesus? (Yeah, me too.) But here’s the upshot of John 14: We will be empowered to do the works of Jesus only if He works through us—not the other way around. It’s a supernatural formula grounded in Heaven whereby the signs and wonders He wants to perform through us point a hurting world to a healing Father. This is “spiritual reach”: having faith not in our own abilities, but in Jesus’ ability to work through us in miraculous and goodly dangerous ways.
If the thought of doing great works for God seems overwhelming, good. Because man of God, to excel in the Kingdom means stretching our reach beyond what we think we can grasp, and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work. I’ve seen men lay hands on terminally ill people and pray in Jesus’ name for healing, and the person was healed. That’s a gorilla reach in God’s eyes—where our spiritual capacity is stretched beyond what we thought we could do.
When we wrap our heads around the fact that God wants to use us to do mighty works in His name, He takes our puny spiritual wingspans and adds His elasticity. Think spiritual Stretch Armstrong! And while dramatic miracles are awesome (physical healings, etc.), I find that most of the great works He wants to do are of the quieter kind: befriending the lonely; comforting the brokenhearted; feeding the hungry; assisting the poor; filling needs at church, etc.
Don’t over-complicate this simple but profound truth: while God can do anything He wants in this world without our help, He’s chosen to partner with us to do them. Do you want to do greater works than Jesus? Start by asking Him to stretch your spiritual wingspan so He can extend your reach to a hurting world.
Father, extend my spiritual reach and work through me to do greater works than I ever imagined.