I was introduced to this title’s concept many years ago and had to be re-introduced to it again recently. The fact is we can experience various seasons in our lives where we have to learn the lesson of being content with what we already have. This is where we practice making use of whatever that “thing” is in order to watch it multiply, bless, and become a ripple effect to serve someone else. SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH RIGHT?
The truth is, for many of us, it is much harder to start with that “thing” we have because there are usually some gaps and missing pieces we feel we need in order to fulfill a task. Therefore, we delay or dismiss putting it into action until we have more of what’s outside of our hands. That is until there’s nothing outside of your hands and what’s in your hands is all you have so there is nowhere else to go, and you have no choice. Sometimes in order to “become”, we need the push to do a thing out of desperation and dependency. Who would we be dependent on? God of course!
Sometimes until you use what God has already given you, you won’t progress, advance, increase, or see the next step, stage, or chapter.
Matthew 25:29 NLT- To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.
What if we looked at what we have and were given as a resource to be used in some great and serviceable way no matter how small it may begin?
1 Peter 4:10 NLT– Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
The keywords here are “use“ and another would be to “start“. The title “Use What’s in Your Hands” means to use what has been made available, already accessible, or that belongs in your possession. Use what is on you. Use what you have, and what God has given or provided already.
THE DILEMMA TO WORK WITH WHERE WE’RE AT
I had a dilemma this past month where I was presented with an opportunity that I almost postponed. I reviewed the fact that I had a lack of preparation but a deadline. In fact, I regrettably had years worth of dropping the ball in this all too familiar area. It was a gift I hadn’t activated, in a decade because I gave up and allowed fear to creep in and life to sweep its potential aside. I also realized that there weren’t too many other pressure-type situations that would have snapped me back into a full surrender with the help of someone beyond myself to get it completed. This is where God presented an opportunity to either turn it on or leave it turned off. The choice is always ours.
This got me thinking- “If not now, when?” and it also had me thinking- Who am I REALLY doing this for?
If we’re doing it for ourselves, we get our security from the number of likes, followers, applauses, and shares. We may feel the need to compare ourselves to the most popular views toward what success is. Therefore, the bar becomes the industry’s standard over the Holy Spirit. If we expect to be liked by the majority, we’re taking on the wrong expectation. Especially in ministry and especially as Christians. We have to even be prepared that we may be ridiculed or hated for taking a stand for Christ.
John 15:18-27 NIV– If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
Here’s the hard reality- the reality is we all want to be liked. We won’t be liked by everyone or perhaps we won’t be liked by many. When Christ has any purpose for us, our best may not move someone and all seeds won’t stay planted, but it will move whom God had it purposed to move during our bracketed amount of time here on earth. This is the humbling experience of being a vessel for God because it is his purpose that determines the outcome despite our very own plans.
Proverbs 19:21 ESV- “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”
THE AGE DILEMMA
The perspective looks different when a 50-year-old wants to begin fulfilling a purpose in life and the world thinks he or she should have started at age 20. The thought from individuals is “how it looks” rather than where their heart is at that’s motivating him or her to fulfill that. Their heart filled with a love to fulfill the purpose that God has placed in them is giving them a reason to keep living, moving, and being. And it is still substance-filled regardless of their age. And secondly, when you are dealing with God’s purpose or ministry, it’s not about our age because our goal is drawing folks to Christ. And when it comes to Christ, we can’t put an age on him because Christ is eternal.
When someone sees a 55-year-old rapper or female artist dressed provocatively they may say, “Aren’t you too old to be doing that?” Because they are only looking at that “individual”. With ministry, very much the opposite, we shouldn’t focus on the individual more than on God. When we speak his word through our message it remains timeless…
JUST USE IT
This is all just a reminder to look inside of your hands. Do it now. What do you see? What is there about you that God says is enough? What did God say it IS beautiful and you just passed it off as average? What did He consider effective and you considered inefficient? What did He foresee that would change the course of someone’s soul eternally and you deemed it as bothering somebody? There is so much more we can discover when we begin to use what is inside of our hands. So in the ending, I would share that if there is something that you have, that is enough to get started, and that God has uniquely placed within you, BEGIN… and watch how something of small beginnings can evolve into something bigger than ourselves, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
