Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“He brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, September 21, 2026
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
God invites us to dream big. Count the stars, if you are able to. Of course Abram could not, at least not without spending hours of painstaking documenting, and even then sometimes they seem to wink in and out. Is that an actual star or a smudge? Did I count that one? Shoot. Do I need to start over? Yeah, it was probably a rhetorical comment on God’s part, but the fact remains—nothing is too big for God.
In February 2023, about three years post divorce, I got brave enough (with a lot of prayer and support) to start dating again. With the encouragement of one of my recovery sponsors, I made a list of what I needed in a partner. Ten things that I saw as central to who I am as a person and who the right partner for me would be. I read that list back and was very, very clear with God: “This man does not exist.” But I intoned a very common recovery program slogan: I’m responsible for the footwork. God is responsible for the outcome. So I went online sometime in March, joined a couple of dating apps, slogged through profiles, kept praying, kept refusing to settle, kept feeling discouraged, began to think maybe I was being too particular. But the thought of landing in another dysfunctional relationship was too scary. I would rather be alone.
Then in mid-June, someone new popped up in my suggestions. I read his profile. I was gobsmacked. We met on July 1, 2023. Within a month I knew that not only had he hit every single thing on my list, he had exceeded them in ways I hadn’t even imagined possible. He had additional qualities that hadn’t been on my list that ended up being central and critical to our relationships. God said, “You didn’t even dream big enough.” We are getting married this fall.
I know this is a bizarre, insane, and over-the-top example—one I myself would have said, “Yeah, but that doesn’t happen for everyone.” I can’t explain it. All I know is that when God says, “Dream big, Rebekah,” I’m gonna.
Where is God inviting me to dream big? What is holding me back?
