Defining and Refining

mag-ni-fy - verb -
1. to cause to be held in greater esteem or respect
2. to increase in significance: intensify: exaggerate
3. to enlarge in fact or in appearance: to have the power of causing objects to appear larger than they are.

I am a relatively 'young' Christian, having come to Christ 13 years ago. There are terms in the Christian verbiage that I use occasionally but have only a loose understanding of what I am saying. The word magnify is certainly one of those.

I mean, I know what it means. I was among those kids on the playground who used a magnifying glass to catch things on fire. I even understood that magnifying glasses had other purposes, but I had decently good eye-sight, so mainly it was a tool for catching things on fire.

When I started attending church regularly, I heard that phrase 'magnify yourself in us' and just flowed with it, not really giving a second thought as to what that really meant. I am not the insatiably curious type, to say the least. I often forget to ask the most basic of questions. Anyway, while 'magnify' never really became a term in my Christian vocabulary, I heard it. And frequently.

However, I had one of those 'ah-ha' moments this past weekend while I was at Blissdom. I attended the prayer and praise time that Robin so graciously put together for us one morning, and there, in the middle of thirty or so women, who were essentially strangers, God started revealing things to me.

That's how it is for me. Little things that add up to big things one day. Eventually. Right now, it is dwelling on a word. Magnify. It's specific meaning with the God connotation. To ask Him to magnify Himself in my life is just like asking Him to make me smaller, make Him bigger. To beg that people will see Him through the actions I carry out, the conversations I have, the way I treat my children and my husband.

There is so much more that went on in my head this weekend. Things that I really think God is preparing me for. And He needed me to really get that one little word. To remind me that it is all about Him, for His glory. Not about me and what I can do.

So, yeah, it seems little, but it's not. There are places yet to go, things yet to be uncovered, but I have to know the lingo and really understand the ramifications of what it means in order to make the most of the things God lays in front of me.

...My soul doth magnify the Lord
Luke 1:46