What Do You Have?

Karen Tindall, Australia

2 Kings 4 :1-7 & Mark 6:30-44

devotional

When the poor widow came to Elisha begging him to help her, the first thing that Elisha asked her was” what do you have in your house?” And in Mark 6:30-44 when the disciples came to Jesus asking him to send the 5000 away so that they could find something to eat, Jesus asked them “How many loaves do you have?"

This QT came from Steven Furtick’s book -Greater and I wanted to share it because it was definitely a turning point in my walk with God. I realised that I had stopped believing that God could use my life for greater things. For years I had been comparing myself to other women in the church, thinking that I should be able to do the same things that they were doing, serve in the same way that they were serving. I was focused on what I didn’t have, instead of what I did have. I would think : If I was married again I could do ____. If I didn’t have to work full time I would be able to ____. If I had the energy that ___ has, I could do___.

I realised I needed to give up my false expectations of myself and what I thought God was calling me to do. I needed to accept my limitations and focus on what God was actually calling me to do. When I started to embrace and accept my limitations and acknowledge my current situation and my season in life I started to find peace. I started to trust that God had me exactly where he needed me to be. That I had everything that I needed in order to do the work that God has planned for me to do right now.

The Widow’s response to Elisha was, I have nothing except a small jar of Olive oil. The disciples said “we only have 5 loaves of Bread and two fish”. Yet in both situations, God used the little that they did have to perform a miracle.

It made me realise that I need to stop focusing on what I don’t have. To trust God that he has given me everything that I need and be willing to use what I do have to serve God. I started praying that God would open my eyes to see how he wanted to use my life and prayed that he would give me a heart that was willing to say yes to what he is calling me to do.