But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him!
(1 Cor. 2:9)

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. God doesn’t want you to be boxed in by the smallness of your mind. God’s plan for your life is beyond your comprehension. I love imagining the possibilities of what God has planned for me, even though I know I’ll never come close to imagining how wonderful it will be!

I encourage you to do the same. Set aside any religious ideas you may have and see the possibilities. See the big picture and the things God is preparing you for. Let the Holy Spirit show you the magnificence of what lies ahead!

If you do this, it puts the daily challenges you face into proper perspective. Carnality falls by the wayside when you have the big picture of who you are in Christ and God’s bigger purpose for your life! When some guy says something nasty about you tie not matching your coat, the big picture puts it in perspective. You don’t have a reason to get offended when somebody doesn’t like your hair style.

I’m glad the Lord has said He’ll never leave us in the midst of our training here. He’ll never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) He won’t let us have a training accident that ruins everything. He going to be there, watching as we step out in faith, watching as we walk out the principles of God’s Word, and then learn from what happens. He’ll be our safety net.

Your Effectiveness As God’s Steward On This Earth
One of the ways we are trained is by simply going through the daily challenges life brings our way. For example, our ministry has faced some challenges over the past few years, and I’ve learned a lot as I’ve prayed and asked God how to handle each one.

Even though I’d rather have learned those lessons by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, a lot of lessons are often better learned when you and I walk through the test ourselves and directly confront the resistance to the unfolding will of God for our lives.

This is what prepares us for eternity. The challenges and decisions we face on this earth are opportunities to learn how to govern and be a steward on God’s behalf for the eternal ages to come. The extent and nature of your eternal destiny is going to be decided by your effectiveness God’s steward on this earth.

Did you produce and increase for the kingdom of God? Did you use your life’s resource, you time, your talent, your money to increase God’s kingdom on this earth? The answers to those questions determine your eternal ruling assignments.

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 is an example of this truth. The master goes on a journey to a far country and entrusts his belongings to his three servants. (This type of Jesus ascending to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, while we oversee the work here on earth until His return.)

Two of the servants invested their portions and brought increase to the master, while the third hid his portion in the ground. When the master returned, the servants had to give an account for what they had done while he was gone.

The master said to the two who had brought increase to his kingdom, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: (I will put you charge of much), enter thou into the joy of thy lord!” (Matt. 25:21).

The extent of your eternal rulership depends on how faithful you are to use the resources He has entrusted to you now to bring an increase to His kingdom in this earth. You cannot read that parable any other way.

Use Whatever You Have For God’s Kingdom
How faithful have you been to produce increase in the kingdom of God? Are you using your time, talent, gifts, and financial resource to bring increase to the kingdom of God? Whatever your calling, whatever your vocation, no matter how many gifts and talents you think you have (or don’t have).

You have a responsibility to use whatever you have for God’s kingdom. Remember, the guy who had five talents received the same reward as the guy who had two talent because both of them produced the same proportional increase! God simply wants you to use what you’ve been given for His kingdom.

Recognizing this responsibility to increase to increase God’s kingdom doesn’t come naturally. When I went to college, I didn’t have a concept of the big picture of life. I was in school to have a good time as I could, make reasonably decent grades, and get out of there. That’s all I wanted.

Not everyone had that view. Some who were more mature than I viewed college as a time of preparation for their future. Because of their mindset, they got out of college considerably further down the road than I did.

The same is true for us. If you only view your life as a time to have a few parties, enjoy life a little, and escape as much suffering as possible, you’re going to miss out. But if you take time to view your life on earth as your opportunity to prepare for eternity, you’ll position yourself much better off, not only for this life but your eternal destiny. Glory to God!

Summary Points:

• God doesn’t want you to be boxed in by the smallness of your mind
• Set aside any religious ideas you may have and see the possibilities.
• The extent of your eternal rulership depends on how faithful you are to use the resources.

Source: The Big Picture by Mac Hammond.
Excerpt permission granted by Mac Hammond Ministries