A Little is Enough
What little thing do you have?
John 6:5-13 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
It would take a large truckload of food to feed five thousand men, but the Lord used the contents of a lunch basket. The need was so much greater than the supply at hand, but the Lord used that which was offered to Him to accomplish the impossible.
The lad could have kept his lunch for himself; he could have reasoned that it was impossible to do any good to give such a small amount, when the need was so great. Nevertheless, the lad was a child with the faith of a child; therefore, he offered all he had to the Lord. The Lord took that which was offered to Him, in faith, and used it for His glory.
We should always remember that nothing is impossible with God; therefore, our meager resources are more than enough when God is involved. We should never loose heart and give up, when our need is so much greater than our supply, because our true supply is as great as God is great.
If we believe God has called us to a ministry, we should not look at our own shortcomings or the lack of our resources and give up before we start. We should always step out in faith believing that God is more than able to do that which is seemingly impossible.
The size of the task at hand should not be the determining factor when we consider whether or not we should begin to attempt the task. If we believe something to be God’s will, we should do all that we can to accomplish His will no matter how seemingly impossible it may appear to us because with God our little is always enough. Our little is always enough for God.
I King 17:8-16 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
It was seemingly impossible for this widow to provide for Elijah when she did not even have enough for her own need. All she had was a handful of flour and a little oil, but her little was enough because God is faithful. When Elijah asked her for something to eat she could have reasoned that she didn’t have enough, but she gave all that she had because she believed the word of the Lord, as spoken by Elijah.
It was God’s plan and purpose for this widow to provide for Elijah through the years of the famine; therefore, they ate and did not die. If we know something to be the will of God according to His word, the Bible, we should obey. We should not consider the feasibility of success based on our resources, but we should obey knowing that it is His will, and because it is His will we will succeed.
When we obey the Lord we will always have success, no matter how seemingly impossible the task may seem to us. When all reason says that we cannot obey because we do not have the resources to succeed, we must step out in faith and trust in the Lord to provide. Our little is always enough when we do His will because He is at work on our behalf.
II Kings 4:1-7 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
This widow didn’t have any means of paying her debt nor for providing for her family. All she had was a jar of oil, but God multiplied that oil to the extent that she was able to sell it to pay her debt and live on what was left over. By faith she obeyed and God made her little to be much, to be all she needed.
God also makes our seemingly inadequate resources to be enough when we trust in Him and obey. We should trust that He will also provide for all our needs. Whatever little we have will always be enough when we look to the Lord God Almighty to provide.
Matt 21:21-22 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Mountains are immoveable objects, but there is no such thing as an immoveable object for God. The obstacles we face throughout our lives are opportunities for us to give glory to God by trusting Him to do that which only He can accomplish.
Often times our problems appear to be mountainous to us, but God can move mountains. When we trust in God, He will work on our behalf to move the mountains we encounter throughout our lives. Our little faith in God is enough; it is all we need.
Isa 40:28-31 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Because the Lord is Almighty and knows all there is to know, we can be sure that He is able to accomplish all of His will in our lives. His ability becomes our ability when we trust in Him to accomplish His will in and through us.
If we rely upon our own strength and resources we will only fail. But if we rely upon His strength and resources, we cannot fail. There is nothing we cannot accomplish through faith in His ability and faithfulness.
When we are weak, He is strong on our behalf. We will always find all the strength we need, to do His will, when we trust in Him. Our little strength is enough, when we look to Him for the strength we do not have.
Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
God does not need us to accomplish His will, but He will use us when we have faith to trust and obey Him. When the obstacles and circumstances we face are beyond our ability to overcome we will find success, if we will only step forward in faith, trusting in Him to do that which only He can accomplish.
We must continue to trust in the Lord even when we cannot begin to understand how our little abilities and resources could ever be enough.
Our little, will always be enough when we trust and obey.
All Scripture taken from King James Bible
* Bible Studies by Max Swan
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. (NAS) Jer 9:23-24