You’re listening to Joni and Friends and I’m Joni Eareckson Tada.
Do you ever face a pressing need, something really demanding, and feel as though – good grief – you're only one person who can only do so much? Sure you have. And if we are to be honest, we often use it as an excuse to bow out or put the responsibility on someone else. We can say we're the wrong person for the job, we simply can't do it alone, we have other priorities, God hasn't called us to meet the need, or the ever-ready excuse: "I only have limited resources."
That's the defense the disciples reached for in Mark chapter 6 when Jesus told them to give a huge crowd something to eat. These guys looked at that hillside filled with thousands of people, and then, (they must’ve had the most incredulous look on their faces) when they turned to Jesus and said, "Say what? You want us to feed all these people? That’s impossible.” But in the story, Jesus asks them, “What do you have?” Well, the disciples probably felt a little silly showing Jesus the five loaves and two fish. Like that was going to make a difference. Well, you know what Jesus did with their excuse? He turned it into a miracle of multiplication, and before those guys knew it, the disciples ended up helping to feed five thousand. God has a way of laughing in the face of limited resources. In fact, He often uses limitations on our resources to strengthen and test our faith as we step out and believe He will supply the need. That’s the whole point behind the story in Mark chapter 6.
And that same Scripture has inspired me for decades here at Joni and Friends. I mean, I’m just one quadriplegic. I was just a 17-year-old girl off the farm who went to the beach one day; who broke her neck, landed in a hospital, and disappeared into depression. I had no hope, and, back then, very little help. But somewhere in that darkness, in my despondency, I cried out to God. “Oh God, do something in my life,” I prayed. “For that matter, Lord, do something with my life.” I confessed my sins of doubt and fear; of lack of faith and discontent. I confessed those sins and began to sing a favorite hymn: “All to him, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” I gave him my broken body and my shattered dreams. I had 5000 reasons to doubt God and counting, but still, I gave him my two fish and five loaves. And now? Oh, as I look at “Joni and Friends” I shake my head in amazement – God is using this ministry to reach for Christ tens of thousands of disabled people around the world.
And this is something to remember if today you are faced with a need, a project, or a problem that’s making you want to disappear into depression. You look at the future and it seems so dark; you feel gagged and tied because of what you lack. Well, commit it to God; give what you have to God; don’t look at the limits, think about the possibilities. Open your eyes, but more importantly, ask God to open your heart to how he wants to use what you have for his kingdom. And then when you roll up your sleeves and dig into the task the Lord has put before you, your resources will expand. Out of nowhere you will find you have the strength, you will see you have the time, and if money is the problem, then watch to see how God will supply what's needed. And if you need a little help; if you need to gain a hopeful Spirit about what God can do, then you really must visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and ask for this special pamphlet I just finished writing called “Gaining a Hopeful Spirit.” So have hope. God can do a lot, a lot more than you realize, in an impossible situation.
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376