Give Me a Bigger Plate
Raised in an Italian home, pasta and desserts ruled the menu. While growing up, Mom would give the children a smaller plate than her and Dad. Their plates seemed huge compared to ours. Have you ever tried to put spaghetti on a saucer plate or even a dessert plate? Being the oldest, I received the bigger plate before my siblings. What a difference the bigger plate made. More pasta, more meat, and more sauce!
I enjoyed my food longer. I could move the food around, and it would not drop off my plate. And it seemed to taste better. My food didn’t touch, but if I wanted to, I could mix it together. The endless options with a bigger plate taught me lessons that I am reminded of today. Okay, let me stop. I’m getting hungry talking about pasta, bread, and dessert.
Lately, my to-do plate has significantly filled up, and stuff is falling off the plate. I am forgetting to make a phone call. Or, I double-booked an appointment. You know what I mean. We volunteer for one too many things, or our job requires more time than we have in a day - which means it goes into the night.
But to God’s defence, He will not put more on us than we can bear. We are the ones who often do that. People ask me, “How do I find a balance?” Great question, and it deserves an answer, but let me propose a solution that will help you get to that answer.
Ask God for a bigger plate. That’s right. Ask Him for a bigger plate, watch Him move everything from the small one to the big one, and you will be amazed at the space left on the plate. The spaces are not for you to fill your plate up with more stuff, more meetings, more calls, more night commitments. Here is what the bigger plate is for:
Take a hard look at everything on your plate. Ask yourself, did the Lord lead me to do this? My guess is you will be able to eliminate one or two things that take up your time, add no value, and you sense you are spinning your wheels in that area.
Once you eliminate dead works from the plate, look closely at what is left. Ask yourself, how can I make this better? Do I need to train others in this area? Is this beneficial and helpful, allowing others to grow closer to God?
What about you? Is there room, lots of room on the plate to spend time with God in prayer, worship, and reading the Bible? These things and more are key to everything else working the way God intended, including your life.
So, before you start scraping things off your small plate because you are weary, frustrated, and out of time, ask God for a bigger plate. Watch Him transfer everything and sit with Him as He shows you His way in all that you are doing. Sit with Him. Let Him take inventory. He will equip you with the grace needed for new endeavors and allow you to let go of old ones. Both are equally important.
If this Time With the Father resonated with you, leave me a comment, share it with a friend, and then, spend some time with God. He really does know best!
The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart!
Dr. Michele Morgan
June 1, 2025
