Recently I had the opportunity to visit the Giant Sequoia National Park and for the first time saw these unbelievably humongous trees. I had seen pictures of them on instagram and online, but quite honestly they didn’t look real. I had no real life experience that would help me get a practical perspective of the width and height of these massive trees. My experience was the box I had put what I thought was possible in. When we drove up the mountain, I was excited to see what giant sequoias looked like, but secretly believing that the pictures I had seen were amplified, photo shopped, or somehow altered and that when I actually saw the trees they wouldn’t be as amazing as they looked. When we came around a corner and saw the first giant tree, I thought I had been beamed to Alice In Wonderland or somehow magically been transported into the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. These trees were enormous and I had no previous experience to prepare me for the magnitude of what they were. To give you some perspective – the diameter of the General Sherman tree is 36 feet in diameter and 275 feet high. For football players, the tree is almost a full football length tall and 12 yards wide at its base. That is massive! The entire time I was there my mind was wrestling between the struggle to build perspective of what I was experiencing and being in awe of this unbelievable creation of God. I left the park feeling more hopeful, more excited, and with a renewed anticipation of the future.
I am learning that I have lived sections of my life allowing my experience to limit my possibilities. I have had people invite me to do something in my life that I thought was impossible because my experience said I couldn’t do it. I remember my freshman year in high school my track coach called me over after a practice and told me that he was going to have me run the 3200m race at the varsity track meet the next weekend. I thought he was crazy. I didn’t believe that I could run 2 miles at a time without dying let alone add any value to the team. In fact, I kept asking him what I had done to make him mad that he would punish me by making me run to my death. The day came and I started running the race with the only goal being not to die. After 4 laps, I believed I might finish. After 6 laps I thought there was a possibility that I might finish without throwing up and collapsing. After 7 laps I realized I was in 5th place and that I could place. With 200m left I believed that I could medal in the top 3 and I ran with everything I had left. In first 2 mile race ever, I finished 3rd, contributed to my team, and realized that I was a distance runner. Who knew? That trend has continued in my life. God has put people in my life to invite me to do things that didn’t make sense because they were far bigger than my experience. Every time I have said yes to those asks, whether it be a job, a responsibility, a volunteer position in the community, or a personal risk I have seen incredible things happen.
I have worked with many people over the years who have limited their possibilities because they have put their potential in the small box of their experience. They don’t believe that their life can be used to impact large groups of people. They don’t believe that their lives are important and that they have the potential to change the world. I have seen people say no to incredible opportunities because their experience (whether bad or good) dictated their belief in who they could become. If you struggle with this I invite you to not let the size, scope, and history of your experience limit your potential and what God could possibly do in your life. I firmly believe that the more we allow God, instead of experience, define the potential of our lives, the more we will experience the life that we are offered to live.
Matt. 19:26 – Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”