Faith.
What does it look like to have faith like a mustard seed, that can say to a mountain “jump!” and it jumps? (Matthew 17:20)
What does it look like to have just a little faith in a BIG God who can do whatever He wants to whenever He wants to do it?
What does it look like to take Jesus out of the box that I have put Him in and give Him the space to show His might and power through me?
God has been teaching me so much about what it looks like to have faith, and not just that, but how to put that faith into action.
This weekend I witnessed the Lord do a miracle through my hands. Not that I did anything to orchestrate that miracle. But when I opened my heart to be available to be used by Him, He opened His hands to pour out His blessing and provision.
Here’s how it went:
Each Saturday, the local church here puts on a Kids Club for children in impoverished communities, and we get to be a part of that. At the end of each club, which includes a Bible story and lesson, games, and a craft, we hand out bags of rice and beans to each child to take home to their families.
Our team is in charge of packing the bags of beans and rice each week, and this week we put it off until the morning of the club so we were all rushed and in a hurry to get them all done before we had to leave. By the time we realised that we didn’t have enough rice or beans to make as many bags as we needed, it was already time to leave. We asked the pastor’s wife what we should do and she replied:
“Don’t worry about it. God will provide.”
I was a little doubtful, but figured maybe God could if He wanted to, and so with that we took the bags that we did have and went to the park to meet the kiddos.
The fact that we were short on beans and rice was in the back of my mind the entire time, so again I went up to the pastor’s wife and offered to go buy more so we could have enough. But again she replied,
“Don’t worry about it. God will provide.”
When the time came for the kids to line up behind her car to receive their bags of food and go home, I thought, I gotta see this! and made my way over to help pass them out. In that moment God reminded me of how when Jesus fed the five thousand He gave thanks for what they did have before performing the miracle, so I intentionally laid my hands on the bags and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for what we did have, for the Lord to bless it, and that He would multiply it.
Then we started handing out the bags. The kiddos kept coming and we kept giving.
We had more kids than we’ve ever had and less beans and rice than we’ve ever had, and yet each child walked away with a bag AND we had some left over.
I was dumbfounded (which is pretty stupid looking back on it because it was EXACTLY what I had prayed for! Why was I so surprised that God had answered?) I walked over to my friends and said “You guys, I think God just did a miracle.”
But I was still a little doubtful. Did He really multiply them? I kept thinking of all the numbers in my head. I thought, I should have counted how many bags we had and then counted how many bags we passed out, because then I would have known for SURE that He multiplied it. I wanted to be SURE.
Then Jesus whispered, so patiently, so gently, “O you of little faith, why do you doubt? Do you not know that I am a God of miracles? That I am a God who provides? That I am a God who hears and answers prayer?”
I thank the Lord that He is so patient with me. In my doubts and in my wonderings, He whispers truth. I know now without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord did an extraordinary miracle on that ordinary Saturday. And I praise Him for His provision and how He allowed me to be a part of that.
God’s economy doesn’t add up. Our human minds cannot comprehend how 5 loaves and 2 fish can feed five thousand people, or how 60 bags of beans and rice can be enough for 100 children, but it can. He’s a God of miracles. Nothing is impossible for Him.
I am blown away by the fact that God chooses ordinary, broken, messed up people like me to accomplish His miracles through. He’s just looking for people with open hands, ready to receive all of the blessings that He wants to pour out.
Praise God. “You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” (Psalm 77:14)
Side note: I love that our God is a God of abundance. He provides all that we need….and then some. He’s so cool.
In Christ,
Cindy
