I think we complicate things sometimes. We want to do God's will, but think its all complicated and mysterious. In the Old Testament God was telling Moses to do stuff (forgive my lack of theological accuracy) and instead of agreeing, Moses was busy telling God all of the reasons he couldn't do it. God simply asked Moses, "What do you have in your hand?" and then all of the rod-to-snake jazz happened. And God used that. Pretty cool.
I think we do the same thing. God shows us things we're supposed to do or gives us opportunities. We are focused on our lack - what we don't have or can't do that often we miss the opportunity.
Here is something that happened to me recently.
I've been anticipating a hard week. This coming Thursday would have been my son Caleb's 18th birthday. Caleb has been gone since 2005 when we lost him in a car accident at the age of ten. His birthdays can be really hard.
I was talking to a friend on Friday. She told me that her husband suddenly lost his job about two weeks prior. It was bad. With his being the sole income for their household, they didn't know where the money was coming for anything - mortgage, cell phones, food. Another friend and I listened to and encouraged her. Then a thought struck me - I remembered that her young daughter's birthday was also this coming Thursday - I always knew that her birthday fell on the same day as Caleb's. I felt like God was nudging me - "What do you have in your hand?" Well, I had knowledge of this same birthday. I also had some extra money due to some extra work I'd gotten lately. I could only imagine how hard it would be to manage birthday gifts when you're worried about where your food is going to come from. I asked her what her daughter wanted for her birthday and her clothing size. She tearfully mentioned a couple of things. I told her I feel like I'm supposed to get some of those things and bring them to her - given as a gift from them, not me.
Now, I don't say any of this to boast about what I'm doing to help somebody. Really in the scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal. I even feel like it may be helping me too. Out of my loss and grief, I can focus on someone else - I may be literally spending the money I would have spent on my own son's birthday to bless a little girl who wants to enjoy her special day. PLUS, I get to shop for GIRL stuff - and I never get to do that!
It really does amaze me when I stop and listen, God shows me how to use what is in my hand.
What's in yours?
