Have you every looked around at the world and felt inadequate? Like you don't have enough internal or external resources to make a dent in the pain and injustice around us - not even in our city, let alone the world? I have definitely felt this way. It is really easy to look at people God is using to do amazing things and wish I could do something similar, all the while knowing I don't have what it would take. I'm not __(fill in the blank)__ enough for that, and probably never will be.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about Matthew 5:3-10 and how God invites us to blessings and happiness in his Kingdom that are beyond the kind of blessings typically sought after in our culture and world. It's easy, however, to measure ourselves against the list in that chapter and find ourselves lacking. Are we always pure of heart and humble, merciful peacemakers hungering and thirsting for righteousness? No.
We will never measure up to all Jesus calls us to just in those few verses, and yet there are thousands more in addition to those! And that is precisely the point. We can't do it all - and the harder we try to do it on our own, the more we will fail.
But, PRAISE GOD! That's not the end of the story! The point of the gospel (which literally means "Good News") is that we cannot save ourselves or ever be good enough to earn or deserve our salvation and the grace and mercy of God BUT He offers it freely to us anyway. Alone, we also won't ever be __(fill in the blank)__ enough to fix all of the problems in the world around us. BUT God promises to fill us with His grace so that in all we do, His amazing grace will OVERFLOW in the good work He gives us to do through Him.
In Matthew 14 and again in Matthew 15, Jesus took a few fishes and loaves of bread and multiplied them to be MORE than thousands of people could eat. The disciples were sure (even after Jesus had performed this miracle the first time) that they didn't have enough to feed everyone. They looked around and saw only great need. They forgot that right in front of them was standing the Great Provider. Somehow it is easier to look around and to look within and see needs and hunger and thirsting and forget that in Christ we are promised more than enough.
Yes, the needs are really there and the hunger and thirst and pain are real. I'm not claiming they aren't. But I am learning that the more I focus on the needs, the less I notice God's provision, and I am left paralyzed and overwhelmed. God is retraining me to look instead for how He is providing and working. Most of the time, what I'm noticing has very, very little to do with me. God is already at work in our community and world using other people who are following Him. Instead of looking at the grandness of the need, God is calling me to look at the grandness of His grace and ask what exactly is my part? What are the loaves and fish He has given me and how do I offer them to Him?
Right now, I think He's showing me that at least in part, for this season, the loaves and fish He's given me are words of encouragement and prayers for those who are doing the work I sometimes wish I were able to do. I may feel unable to contribute, but I can pray for those who are out there hard at work! And I know God hears and moves in response to our prayers. What a gift to participate in His Kingdom work in that way. They may feel small, but my prayers can be powerful, because the One I pray to is powerful!
When I see the needs in my home church, I can pray for our pastors and staff members and their families and for God to continue to give us all wisdom to know how to serve each other, and I can share and teach as He allows me. When I feel saddened by the realities of how many children age out of the foster care system without families to care for them, I can pray for my friend who leads a ministry working to bless those very young adults and for my other friend who advocates for and encourages foster families across the country. When I am worried about human trafficking, I can praise God and pray for my friend who is working right here in Fresno with women who have been rescued. When my heart is stirred for God's Kingdom to keep growing to reach youth with disabilities and their families, I can pray for my friend who oversees a ministry doing just that!
I may not be able to work hands-on in each of these areas right now, but I can pray for those who are, and God can multiply my prayers to minister through my brothers and sisters in ways beyond what I can imagine.
In both Matthew 14 and 15, after the thousands of men, women, and children had eaten and were full, there were baskets of food left over. The word used there to describe the overflow is "
perisseuĊ." It means "to superabound (in quantity or quality)." It's not just enough. It's beyond enough and overflowing.
The same word is used several times in
2 Corinthians 9:8. The NET translation says it this way:
And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work.
Wow. God promises that He is able to make His grace overflow to us, for us, in us, and through us in every way, at all times, in every good work so that we will have all we need and then some.
Let's remember He is going to cause His grace to overflow to us so we can do the work He has called US to do. He isn't going to give me the grace that someone else needs to do their work. He's going to give me the grace I need to do the work He is giving to me. The same goes for you.
I may feel like I don't have enough to offer anyone. But God promises that my simple fish and loaves, when trusted to Him, can be made into more than I can imagine. He promises the same for you.
May you receive and share His overflowing grace this week.
Love,
Melissa ♥️
If you're reading along with me through the New Testament, here's this week's reading schedule:
Monday 3/25 - Matthew 16
Tuesday 3/26 - Matthew 17
Wednesday 3/27 - Matthew 18
Thursday 3/28 - Matthew 19
Friday 3/29 - Matthew 20
Saturday 3/30 - Reflect/Review
Sunday 3/31 - Reflect/Review
