Sunday, 17 June 2018

Little is Much



I believe little is much if Jesus is in it.

Jesus fed a minimum of 5,000 people with 5 loaves and two fish. This was really little but he made it more than enough. Many times we are caught on the obsession to get enough, to have what it takes, to be adequate before we offer ourselves or something to Jesus. Interestingly, Jesus wants us as we are, to bring to Him the little honest effort, resources etc so he can use it to do much. He wants us with our inadequacy to transform us and our communities in a big way. Peter was inadequate but look at what came out of his commitment to follow Jesus.
Instead of waiting for the best time, let’s go and give what we have as we are. That’s what Jesus wants. He makes the little much, if we surrender to him. If we were to be equal to the task before engaging, no one would have done anything. But we have to learn to start as we are and completely surrender to the possibility that Jesus can turn what we bring to him to something bigger than us. But this is only possible if there is a commitment to being faithful in the journey. We loosely use this statement, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.” As much as this is true,  what I believe counts much is staying faithful, consistent, committed to the journey -  Giving it all your best as if the success of the journey depends on you and at the same time surrendering to God as if the success of the journey depends on God. The balance here is what brings satisfaction and peace. Knowing that after I have done my best, there is that which only God can do and I let Him do it. 
Image Credits: https://www.care.com

In modern times, we are all under pressure to belong, to fit in; we constantly compare ourselves with those around us. We are under the illusion that we have to earn our way into everything. It’s hard to find those who faithfully step up so they can learn, discover, grow in the process and do great things in complete surrender. We are not expected to admit that we don’t know or we need to yield to go up. It’s rare to find those who are secure, confident and humble enough to be used for major assignments.
Jesus says where two or three are gathered in his name, there He is in their midst. He further says, if two agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them. Two key things here are gathering and agreeing. The enemy to these two things can be the desire to always feel you are fit before you start. The illusion to always wait till the stars align until you have what it takes to belong. If you acknowledge what you have at the moment and gather with another who embrace who they are as little as that could be, then agree together without prejudice, and then ask for it, Jesus will make it much.
For those who have interacted with farmers, you understand the idea of planting a small seed that then brings forth something bigger, better and more beneficial. All of us have seeds of greatness. It could be in anything, your talent, passion, dream etc. When God plants a random idea in your head, it’s a seed that if you trust him for it, it will be bigger than you can imagine. Many times we get tiny, random thoughts, like birds flying over our heads. We sometimes sit down and imagine things, how we can do great things, how we can influence our lives or our generation, but we have these voices that come and tell us how much we can’t. We are not good enough; we are not the right ones for such things. Others are best qualified. So what do we do, we swiftly move on to do what the society expects of us. We maintain the status quo. But as the GiANT Worldwide asks, “WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T?”
Image Credits: www.giantworldwide.com

Of all the over 7 billion people in the universe, why are you the one entertaining that thought the way it's coming to you? It's not accidental that you have that thought in your mind. All you got to do is be intentional about it. Ask Jesus to guide you to the right people and if you can find someone who believes in you enough, walk the journey. You will be amazed at what can come out of random thoughts. That’s what in AYLF we are for, believing in people; young leaders, because this is what has made AYLF Kenya be where it is now.
God is in the business of inviting us to be involved in all the great work he is doing. The only way He does that is revealing to us in little glimpses what we could do by planting random thoughts in our minds. If you don't pick up on a thought God plants in your head at that time, you will be shocked how someone else will quickly say ‘Yes’ to that and the idea will come to reality. And the statement you will be left with will be like, “that was my idea.” It wasn’t really your idea, it was God’s idea, 

He gave you an opportunity to be part of it but since you were still full of your own self-inhibitions, He found someone who was ready - who was confident, secure and humble to trust him for the idea.
If this resonates with you, what seed is God planting in your head now or what is he reminding you after you have read this. Look for a small community of friends who you can do this together with… Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journey of engaging with the ideas God plant in our minds.  You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be a small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.
Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you…
By Gabriel Achayo. 

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