“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” ~ John 6:9
REFERENCE:
Not many people have sufficient to respond to the needs that confront them. Quite often, our needs are more than our supply, and our responsibility weighs heavier than our capacity to respond to them. There are desires and aspirations we have that we lack the means to execute; this can make us feel inadequate and cheated by life, but give your not-enough to God.
There are certain areas of our lives where we feel ‘not enough’: not enough skills to for admission into the guild, not enough education to earn better, not enough money to purchase the things that make for a better living, not enough connection to rise in life, etc. Every man has an area of inadequacy in his life, but if we give God our not-enough, He will work a miracle out of it.
The boy’s meal seemed insignificant in the face of the great need, but he offered it to Jesus. God’s miracle begins with our willingness to give Him our not-enough. The widow of Zarephath offered her little flour to Elijah. Peter, facing a near-business collapse, offered Jesus his boat, and Jesus commended a widow’s offerings of two mites. God is not intimidated by your not-enough; it is the starting point. Your little becomes much when you place it in God’s hands.
Your not-enough is a clarion call to lean and depend on God. If you are self-sufficient, you do not need the supernatural. We say, “My God shall supply all my need…” but we are afraid to be in need or the place of not enough. Not so! Need attracts supply, weakness compels His strength, and your lack invokes His abundance. Fear not; trust. Give God your ‘not enough’.
As you go into your day, what ‘not enough’ will you give to God: your time, talents, or resources? Your act of surrender has great significance. It is evidence of trust, expression of faith, and invitation for God to work miracles in and through your life. May God take your weaknesses, lack, ‘not enough’, or inadequacy today and transform them into great sufficiency for His glory.
PHOTO QUOTE
ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:3-4, and II Corinthians 8:12
CONFESSION:
+ Lord, I admit I have no sufficiency in myself but in You. I turn my not-enough strength, learning, network, wisdom, ability, money, etc., to You. Take my weakness and bring strength out of it. Take my little, and bring much out of it. Take my disadvantages and let Your favor shine forth in my life. From today, Your sufficiency becomes my sufficiency, in Jesus’ name.
