What Do You Have?

Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude (Matthew 15:34-36).

When the Lord called Moses to deliver the Jews from slavery in Egypt, He revealed to Moses the full plan of the exodus - He did not keep anything from him. Moses, on the other hand, tried every way imaginable to get out of the responsibility of being God’s voice and hands to the Israelites and the Egyptians. Every excuse Moses presented to God as to why he wasn’t qualified, why he couldn’t speak, why the people wouldn’t believe him, etc. was countered by God reminding him “I am going to do all of this through you, don’t worry about it.”

In Exodus 4:1-2 we read, then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”

God was going to use a weak human being and a wooden stick to pour out His judgment upon Egypt and to rescue His people from slavery. But it wasn’t the weak human being or the wooden stick that delivered the Jews - it was the Sovereign God who delivered the Jews. But don’t ignore or overlook the role of Moses or the wooden stick. They were necessary.

Jesus wanted to feed the crowd that had gathered around Him. The disciples said they had nothing with which to feed the people. Jesus asked them, “What do you have?” In essence they responded, “No enough to feed this crowd.” Jesus then proceeded to feed the people.

Lest we forged, it was the Lord who fed 2½ million men, women, and children, with manna every day for 40 years in the wilderness of Sinai. It was the Lord who gave them fresh water to drink every day for those 40 years. And when they wanted meat to eat, He gave them quail. It was the Lord who kept Noah and his family and all of the animals alive in the Ark for 1 year and 10 days during the Great Flood. The children of Israel had nothing to keep them alive in the Sinai. Noah had nothing to keep himself, his family, and the animals alive in the Ark. It was God who provided for them as He worked His will in and through them.

What do you have in your hand that God can use to accomplish His will in and through you? Who are you that God can use to bring honor and glory and praise to Him through the working of His will? We are imperfect. We are weak. We are limited in who we are and what we are. But God is not. He is the Sovereign Lord of creation. He can even use a donkey to speak to a wayward and disobedient prophet (Numbers 22:22-34).

“Lord God, may I never shrink back from doing Your will, no matter how inadequate I may think or powerless I may feel. Remind me that You are the One I serve and that I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. To Your glory and honor I ask, Amen.”

Pastor