When What You Have Is Not Enough

But Lord, I don’t have enough.  

Have you ever found yourself saying that?  In 2 Kings 4 we find two stories about not having enough…

The first story in 2 Kings 4 is of the widow with the olive oil.  Her sons were about to be taken into slavery as a result of their late father’s debt.  This widowed mother had nothing to pay the debt but a small jar of olive oil.  And it was not enough.  

When she took the matter to Elisha, the man of God, he instructed her to go and gather empty jars from all her neighbors and fill them all with what she had in the small jar.  God miraculously multiplied that small jar of oil until every last jar was filled.  Because she gave God what she did have and trusted Him with the rest, she had enough to pay the debt to save her sons AND she had enough for her and her sons to live off of what was left!!!

Later in the chapter, Elisha fed 100 men with just 20 loaves of barley bread.  Again, it was obvious, there wasn’t enough, but Elisha assured his servant, “The Lord says they will eat and have some left over.”  And they did!  They gave what they had, and God took care of the rest. 

Are you feeling like what you have is not enough?  I know I do.  I actually just finished telling God, “I don’t have enough.” 

            I don’t have enough time to do what you are asking me to do.

            I don’t have enough energy to do it enthusiastically.

            I don’t have enough passion to do it well.

            I don’t have enough knowledge to do it right.

            I don’t have enough faith to see past these circumstances.

            Lord, I don’t have enough.

As I cried out to Him in complete honesty He replied, “Stacie, what do you have?”

“Well, Lord,” I prayed, “I have a little bit…”

            …a little bit of time.

            …a little bit of energy

            …a little bit of passion.

            …a little bit of enthusiasm.

            …a little bit of knowledge.

            …a little bit of faith.

“Good,” He said, “give me what you have and I will take care of the rest.” 

Wow! What if we take God at His word here?  Can you imagine what He can do with what little we give Him?  If He can make one jar of olive oil multiply into enough for a family of three to live off of, and feed 100 hungry men with 20 loaves of bread, what can He do with what we give Him?

Join me today in giving God our “little bit,” and let’s watch Him multiply it.  If we trust Him to do that, He is faithful to not only give us what we need but we will have some left over! 

Let’s trust Him with our little bit of time, energy, passion, knowledge, faith or whatever else you feel you don’t have enough of, and we will come through it with God-sized portions of all we need.  

Lord, my God, I don’t have much.  In fact, I only have a little bit, but I am going to give you what I have and trust you to multiply it.  That’s who you are, the God of multiplication! Thank you, Lord, thank you.  I love you, Amen.

How to Exercise Your Authority in Christ

^“ Elisha then traveled north to Bethel retracing his last steps with Elijah. On his way there, a large group of young boys came out of the city and began making fun of him: “Keep going, baldy! Keep going, baldy!” ²⁴ When Elisha looked back at them, he spoke against them by the authority of the Eternal. Almost immediately, 2 female bears walked out of the forest and ripped up 42 of the young boys.”

2 Kings 2:23-24

Today as I read 2 Kings 1 and 2, my soul found rest in a God who has our backs.  In 2 Kings 1 we see Elijah speaking fire from Heaven to demolish the troops who came to arrest them.  All he had to do was speak his God-given authority and bam! Problem solved. 

Here in 2 Kings 2, Elisha is being mocked and teased by a group of bullies.  He too speaks against them by the authority of the Eternal, and almost immediately two bears come and take care of it.  Again, bam! Problem solved. 

As I read this I found myself thinking, “Why doesn’t God work that way anymore?  I would love to be able to speak fire from Heaven against those who oppose me.  Wouldn’t that be awesome?!  And bears for bullies?  That would sure make sending Skylar to school for the first time a lot easier.  Kids these days can be so mean.”

Before I could even completely finish that thought I heard God whisper to my soul, “I am the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  What makes you think I don’t work that way anymore?” 

I responded, “Wow, God. You are right.  You are the same God who sent fire down from Heaven and bears out of the forest.  You had Elijah’s back, you had Elisha’s back, and I know you have my back.  I have seen it.”

Instantly examples of God having my back came to mind.  He reminded me of all the times He has answered my prayers and taken care of me and my family.  I had the feeling that He wasn’t done speaking yet, so I quieted my heart and leaned in a little closer. 

“You long to speak with the same God-given authority as Elijah and Elisha, to speak against the opposition in your life like they did.  Stacie, it is yours.  Proclaim my promises!  Instead of carrying around these fears of yours, speak the authority of my word against them.  When doubts rise up, speak in the authority of me, the Eternal God.  Cry out to me as Elijah did, and though you may or may not see fire from Heaven, you will see my hand at work on your behalf.  Stop fearing and speak my truth!”

What do you need to exercise your authority against today?  Are fears creeping into your heart? Doubts rising up and clouding your vision? 

Don’t spend another day being bullied by those doubts and fears.  

Take hold of the authority given to us through Christ Jesus—authority over the power of the enemy. 

Authority to speak His promises, take hold of faith and walk on in victory.   

Have a faith-filled, victorious day today!

Ressurected Dreams: Finding Hope When Dreams Die

 “When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed."

-1 Corinthians 15:36-38

Have you ever had a dream crumple and fall right before your very eyes? It’s heartbreaking when that happens because our dreams are birthed out of the deepest desires residing in our hearts. 

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about how we thought we saw some of our dreams die right before God raised them back to life.  I shared with her that when I had a miscarriage with my first baby I thought the dream of becoming a mother was lost too. 

We had been trying for months to get pregnant, and as the months went on and discouragement set in, I picked up some other negative attitudes and emotions along the way: envy, doubt, and stubbornness to name a few.  During the time of dealing with my loss God worked in my heart to purify my motives. It was as if He had to allow the dream to die to raise it back up in a pure and selfless form. 

My friend shared her story of waiting in the waiting room of her doctor's office where she would schedule her hysterectomy. Surrounded by a room full of pregnant women, she watched her dream of becoming a mother whither to the ground.  Soon after her hysterectomy, God took her by the hand and led her down the path to adoption.  She laid the dream to rest, and God resurrected it, bringing it back to life as His will.

When a seed is planted, it has to die in the ground before it can be raised to life as a fruitful plant.  If you are watching a dream fade away, take heart my friend, because I don't believe God is done with it yet. He may be letting it die just so He can resurrect it into the plan He has been writing for your life.  He's got big plans for you, and He is the Resurrection and the Life. Let's watch and see what He does!

Father, we come to you with the deepest desires of our hearts, our most treasured dreams.  As I come to you with my dreams, I don’t want you to have to pry my fingers off of them.  I want to bring them to you with open hands and a surrendered heart.  I know you can bring death back to life, so we ask you to do just that, Lord.  Take our dreams that seem so dead, and as we lay them down in surrender, resurrect them into whatever you want them to be.  We trust you, Lord.  We know the plans you have for us are good.  My dreams are yours.  My life is yours.  I love you, Amen.