The Acorn That Became a Cathedral

In 1823, a schoolboy named Johann planted an acorn in his family's garden outside Dresden, Germany. He wanted a climbing tree — something to swing from by the following summer. The oak had other plans. That single acorn sent roots twelve feet into the Saxony clay. Its trunk thickened to four feet across. Its canopy eventually shaded the entire property and two neighboring lots. By the time Johann's great-grandchildren played beneath it, the tree had produced roughly ten million acorns of its own, each one carrying the blueprint to do it all again.

Johann asked for a swing. The acorn gave him a dynasty.

This is how God works in us. Paul writes to the Ephesians that God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." Notice the proportion — not slightly more, not double, but immeasurably more. The Greek word is hyperekperissou, a term Paul essentially had to invent because ordinary language could not contain what he meant. It means beyond all excess, abundance piled on abundance.

We come to God with modest requests. Comfort me. Provide for my family. Help me get through Tuesday. And the Almighty, who spoke galaxies into motion, receives those prayers and answers on a scale we never thought to request. We ask for a swing. He plants a forest.

Whatever seed of faith you are holding today, trust the One whose power makes immeasurably more out of immeasurably less.