Life brings various seasons, ebbs and flows, and twists and turns. I’m convinced that what keeps a believer active in hope and tethered to joy is the belief that our God is big. When we wrote Big God, it was our prayer that this song, with its rhythm and joy, would instill confidence in our God. My prayer is that this devotional will do the same. Gotee Records
Day 1
Scriptures: 1 Timothy 1:17, Revelation 22:13
I want to begin this devotional by looking at why God’s bigness is foundational to the Christian faith. The central lyric is “He’s a big God.” What makes Him big? What has God revealed about Himself that has led us to sing this confidently? Why does this truth invoke joy?
I remember being in the 8th grade and having many spirited discussions with my classmates about everything from religion to politics, family life, relationships, etc. I remember asking a classmate, “Who created God?” His response was, “You can’t ask that question. You’ll go crazy!” That response makes me laugh because we all have the wildest answers to life’s mysteries. Of course, you CAN ask that question and you SHOULD. I think that most people in our context were afraid to ask that question, but, leaning into curiosity leads us to understand who our God is and propels us toward total trust in Him.
However, I understand what my classmate was getting at. He spoke to a much deeper reality within himself that He didn’t have words for. I believe he knew, in his heart of hearts, that perhaps God is God because no one created Him. If God can be created, then He’s not God. If God is uncreated, then He truly is Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end as Revelation 22:13 tells us. That means He is a BIG GOD!
He is immeasurable.
He is immovable.
He is unchangeable.
He is transcendent.
He is good.
He is personal.
My goal for this devotion is to remind you that if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in your life, you have the King of the Ages, the immortal, the invisible, the only God in YOUR corner. Believing this with everything in you will keep you steady in your trust and surrender to Him. This belief can foster joy as you journey through the ebbs and flows, twists and turns, and highs and lows that life brings.
Take time to memorize and meditate on 1 Timothy 1:17 and Revelation 22:13.
Day 2
Scriptures: Psalms 94:19, 2 Chronicles 20:15, Exodus 14:14
Foes & Fears
With foes on my left And fears on my right
They think that I’m all by myself in this fight
But they do not know
The infinite size
Of the God who’s by my side
I tend to write joyful songs about the most painful moments of my life. I do that because it’s joy, grounded in the truth of who God is, that’s carried me through those moments. I remember a season when I felt cornered by hurt, loneliness, and heaviness. I desperately needed God to rescue me. The enemy’s goal was to try to convince me that I was alone, and if he could convince me that I was alone, he could then lead me toward hopelessness. If he could lead me toward hopelessness, he could lead me toward handing over my faith, but he wasn’t worthy of that! I knew I had a choice to make.
Pain, hurt, and disappointment will confront your beliefs about God, and that’s exactly what that season did for me. Is He the God that split the sea, as I so often sang about? Is He the God that raised Himself from the grave, as I have confessed and believed in my heart? Is He the creator of the heavens and the earth? Is He the God that I had seen at work in my life since I was a young girl? If so, then surely, He’d come to rescue me. I came to a place of surrender. If God was allowing this season to take place, there’s no way He’d leave me to fend for myself. He was there the entire time. I just needed to see Him in the way He was revealing Himself, not the way I wanted Him to reveal Himself.
The Lord told Israel not to be afraid or discouraged because the battle wasn’t theirs, it was His. (2 Chronicles 20:15) I believe with all of my heart this is still true for us today.
God is with you, brothers and sisters. He is for you, fighting for you because you are His. (Exodus 14:14) He is bigger than your disappointments and your hurt, working through and with all of it for His glory. You can have joy standing in this truth!
Day 3
Scriptures: Jeremiah 32:17, Matthew 7:9-11, Romans 8:31, Ephesians 3:20
God-sized remedy
The only remedy for big odds is a big God
Ain’t nobody gonna shake my faith
I grew up in the inner city. North Memphis. There are amazing and heartbreaking memories. At one point, our zip code was considered the poorest and held the highest infant mortality rate in the nation. I remember being in school hearing about this and watching a documentary about it. It was shocking to hear because if you saw the joy and happiness we all carried at school, the laughter, the songs, the dancing, you wouldn’t think most of us in that building lived in a zip code considered the poorest in the nation. We didn’t walk around allowing that to hover over our conscience and disposition.
It certainly had its challenges and obstacles. I suppose since I was young, even before I knew exactly what I believed about God, I believed God to be big. Sure, I lived in a poor zip code, but it never led me to believe that could limit what God was able to do in my life. I credit the faith of my family. Hearing my grandmother and grandfather pray and sing hymns in their home, watching my mother live out her relationship with God, seeing the quiet confidence of the Lord in my father, and watching God move in revivals all led me to believe that God was far greater and stronger than we could ever fathom.
I refused to look at the obstacles when it came to the big dreams I had as a young girl. I focused on what I knew God could do. No one could tell me different. That kept me confident and grounded in the Lord’s will for my life. Now, I’m here by the grace and kindness of God, singing songs about Jesus all over the world.
Growing up in the poorest zip code, with the highest infant mortality rate was not my identity – it was my circumstance. I’m a child of God – that’s my identity. Because of that, He will always be my remedy for big odds.
Day 4
Scriptures: James 1:2-4, Psalms 147:3
“Stronger than your brokenness
Deeper than your dreams not seen yet
Greater than your greatest fear
He’s so much bigger”
Brothers and sisters, as we are on the last day of the devotion, I want you guys to leave being sure of this: You are not alone. About three years ago, I experienced one of the darkest moments I’d experienced in my life. I felt surrounded on all sides by doubt, fear, and panic. I felt completely alone and I was angry with God. I questioned if He was aware of me or if I was being punished. I even felt ashamed of hoping. I began to believe in that moment that I’d be stuck in a brokenness stemmed from trauma, forever. I started losing hope and felt my morale sink lower and lower. Through this season, I was still touring and life was still moving, so I did what most of us do. I kept smiling, pretending everything was okay. But, man, was I hurting deeply. Then, some time later, we wrote Big God. The lyrics that flowed from my cowriters struck me as prophetic. It felt as if the Holy Spirit were speaking directly to me through them. I, myself, needed to be reminded that God is big because it was hard to believe it at the time. By the grace of God, I’m in a much better place. The Word of God, prayer, the love and care from my husband, and consistent therapy has been a lifeline. I don’t feel as though I’m just surviving and getting by anymore. I’ve come to surrender to this season of healing and restoration The Lord has brought me to. There’s a ton of joy here because I trust Him. I’m not out of the woods just yet, but with The Lord, the woods can become a sanctuary. So again, you’re not alone. All of us our counting on our Big God in one way or another. And trust me, He shows up BIG for His children.