God can use what you have! I confess my own guilt of looking at how God has gifted or resourced others and thinking that if I had what they had then God could use me or do a great or greater work.
The major issue with this that God has brought me to is that I have become the focus every time this occurs. What I have to give is viewed greater than what God possesses in Himself. My power to make things happen and do His work supersede in my heart and mind the power of God that is unlimited.
But even more that all this, when I compare myself against another with the silent hope and dream of having what God has given to them, I despise the unique way God crafted me and the ways He has chosen to gift and resource me. I do not trust that God, in His great wisdom and according to His perfect will, has placed me in His mission to accomplish what He has planned for me rather than someone else.
He can use what I have. He can use what you have.
A young shepherd on the hills of Bethlehem learned that God could use what he possessed rather than what others had or tried to give him. David came into Israel's base camp and was immediately offended by a giant named Goliath who mocked God and the people of God. So he offered to go and fight.
He didn't have a sword. He possessed no coat of arms or shield. No spear stocked his arsenal. David could have looked at the giant and said, "God cannot use me to do that work because I don't have what the soldiers possess." They had training, experience, and weaponry.
What's interesting to note is that David perceptively saw that God too had given him training, experience, and weapons, though very different from the soldiers.
David had been trained while watching sheep. His greatest training included how God shaped David's heart to follow Him and live for God's glory.
He had experience that came when a lion and bear both came to kill one of his sheep. He fought both not with a sword or spear, but with his own hands and won.
David had weaponry very different from the soldiers. He had a slingshot and 5 smooth stones. It is doubtful any of us, especially me, would even dare take on a giant and the army backing him with such a weapon. Even the soldiers and king Saul thought it was crazy so they tried to give David armor and a sword.
It just wouldn't work.
But isn't that why this story is so fascinating for us? Isn't this why the story impresses us so deeply? A young man allowed God to use what He had. In doing so, as ridiculous as it seemed, it meant David was completely unable to take credit for what God did by His power through David.
I don't have a slingshot and stones. I don't have a sword or spear. I don't have Moses' staff or Paul's intellectual acumen. But I do have what God has given me. I do have the place God has entrusted to me. And God can use what I have right where I am. What about you?
Take a Daniel moment:
1. Thank God for His power, wisdom, and perfect will.
2. Ask God to show you what He has specifically given to you that He can and wants to use.
3. Pray for Christ to make Himself known through you.
4. Trust Christ to use you to fulfill His purpose where you are and with what you have.
The major issue with this that God has brought me to is that I have become the focus every time this occurs. What I have to give is viewed greater than what God possesses in Himself. My power to make things happen and do His work supersede in my heart and mind the power of God that is unlimited.
But even more that all this, when I compare myself against another with the silent hope and dream of having what God has given to them, I despise the unique way God crafted me and the ways He has chosen to gift and resource me. I do not trust that God, in His great wisdom and according to His perfect will, has placed me in His mission to accomplish what He has planned for me rather than someone else.
He can use what I have. He can use what you have.
A young shepherd on the hills of Bethlehem learned that God could use what he possessed rather than what others had or tried to give him. David came into Israel's base camp and was immediately offended by a giant named Goliath who mocked God and the people of God. So he offered to go and fight.
He didn't have a sword. He possessed no coat of arms or shield. No spear stocked his arsenal. David could have looked at the giant and said, "God cannot use me to do that work because I don't have what the soldiers possess." They had training, experience, and weaponry.
What's interesting to note is that David perceptively saw that God too had given him training, experience, and weapons, though very different from the soldiers.
David had been trained while watching sheep. His greatest training included how God shaped David's heart to follow Him and live for God's glory.
He had experience that came when a lion and bear both came to kill one of his sheep. He fought both not with a sword or spear, but with his own hands and won.
David had weaponry very different from the soldiers. He had a slingshot and 5 smooth stones. It is doubtful any of us, especially me, would even dare take on a giant and the army backing him with such a weapon. Even the soldiers and king Saul thought it was crazy so they tried to give David armor and a sword.
It just wouldn't work.
But isn't that why this story is so fascinating for us? Isn't this why the story impresses us so deeply? A young man allowed God to use what He had. In doing so, as ridiculous as it seemed, it meant David was completely unable to take credit for what God did by His power through David.
I don't have a slingshot and stones. I don't have a sword or spear. I don't have Moses' staff or Paul's intellectual acumen. But I do have what God has given me. I do have the place God has entrusted to me. And God can use what I have right where I am. What about you?
Take a Daniel moment:
1. Thank God for His power, wisdom, and perfect will.
2. Ask God to show you what He has specifically given to you that He can and wants to use.
3. Pray for Christ to make Himself known through you.
4. Trust Christ to use you to fulfill His purpose where you are and with what you have.
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