IF or WITH

Recently the community of Christians I work with was looking at moving from a school where we set up and tear down each weekend to a permanent facility. We were pretty excited at the prospect after 3 1/2 years of setting up and tearing down each weekend, of being somewhere where we had access 24/7. We came up with all kinds of ideas for different ways to minister, how we needed to be ready to minister to new people who came in and what we would do to reach out to the community. My prayer to God was for Him to grant us His favor either by allowing us to get the property or to let us not get it if it wasn't the best thing for us. Truthfully, I was hoping hard for the first one and kind of praying the second because I know it to be true in my head and heart, but still struggle to be okay with it.
Yesterday I got a series of phone calls that lead me to believe that short of an incredible miracle from God we will not be getting the new property. At first I was really disappointed. What about all the things we were planning to do for God? Why wouldn't He say YES! when we had so many great things planned? And then it hit me. Faithfulness is not what you would do IF but what you will do WITH. Faithfulness is not about how far you would go or how many ministries you would sacrifice and strive for if God gave you more money, a better building, a better job or a better whatever. Faithfulness to God is to dream BIG now and then do whatever you can to bring that dream into reality. We should be following the big dreams we have of following God now as an act of faith and then let God provide what He wants along the way.
As I have looked back over the last few weeks and months I see now that God gave us a greater gift than a building. God awakened our dreams again. God called us out of the routine and has awakened in us a desire to trust God, reach into the heart of our community and get our church as healthy as possible. God has reminded me that if your palms aren't sweating and your heart isn't beating fast you probably aren't walking very closely to Jesus. If people aren't looking at you like you are insane for the depth and passion of your belief and your desire to go big with God then you are probably living a life and ministry that are what you can handle. God has called us to work by faith and He has promised to grow that kind of faith.
The ability to dream big because of your faith in God will bring a lot more people back to a right relationship with God than a building ever could. Here's to hoping I can help our body receive the gift of dreaming again that God has offered us instead of being bummed at the size of the box the gift comes in.

Love, Michael