This message is for everyone facing challenges, obstacles, trials, tribulations, adversity, and tough circumstances.

I penned these words old school style – with a pen and lined paper, skipping every other line of the first draft as directed by the English teachers of my past – to leave room for inevitable editing and rewrites. I also did this to slow myself down to pen words of purpose. And because, more than anything else, this is a message I need to marinate in.

How much more…

Three common words. Eleven little letters. But for some reason, when strung together in this way, resonate a desperate cry of wearied exhaustion.

How much more?!!

How much more can I endure? How much more can I take? How much more will this cost? How much more will I be asked to do?

Diminishing reserves. Depleting supplies. Limited resources. Increasing heartache. Expanding brokenness. Expectations growing exponentially.

How much more?!!

Do you feel the pull of these tensions? Do you wonder how much more?

I’ve been toting these three words with me for a while now. I’ve been using them as a label in one particular area of my life. I’ve also kept coming back to them as I listen to the details of the struggles, strains, and challenges those I know and those I love are facing. It only takes a few minutes of world news to beg the question, how much more?

One evening I shared communion with a small gathering of friends. Someone spoke the words of Romans 5:17 (NIV), “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

How much more…

That certainly is a different way of looking at those words, an upside down kingdom connotation.

How much more…

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)

Immeasurably more.

Christ suffered, struggled, faced trials & tribulations, and willingly endured so much more than I can fathom, to give us the opportunity to receive more than we can ask or imagine.

To be immeasurable is to be incapable of being measured. It is to be indefinitely extensive. It covers the breadth of our experiences. It envelops the length of our lives. It extends beyond our greatest celebrations. It outreaches the depths of our discouragement and despair.

More than our past. More than our present. More than our future.

When we cry out, how much more?!! We need to hold, not desperately to our own limited and measured resources, but to hold tightly to the Lord’s resources. We need to remind ourselves and remind each other, that God is able to do immeasurably more. We need to declare the Lord’s abundance. We need to flex our faith with His power at work within us. Proclaiming in praise, HOW MUCH MORE!

Beloved Lord,

Thank You for being immeasurably more than we can see, hear, and imagine. Thank You for reaching beyond every detail of our lives and filling us from Your abundance.

Lord, there are so many hard, painful, heavy burdens in our lives. Lord, there are terrifyingly horrible things happening in this world. In exasperation of our limits we cry how, how much more?!!

Lord, I ask for an unleashing of Your abundance into the lives of every reader so they would know that You have heard their cries. Welcome each one into Your presence and wrap them with Your love. May they feel Your delight as they spend time with You.

Grow our faith as we face what our days hold. Help us focus our attentions to what You are doing right before us. May we proclaim with praise, “How much more, Lord!” How much more of You can we see. How much more of You can we hear. How much more of Your power can we experience.

How much more, in Jesus’ name. Amen