WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

I want to start by asking, “What do you have”? Sometimes we see ourselves in a disadvantaged position because of what we have or don’t have; thinking if we had more talent then we could do something greater. If we had a better personality like more height or were more attractive, then we could receive more favour. If we had more funds, more resources, and more opportunities, then we could overcome this obstacle. But as long as you see yourself in a disadvantaged position, you will make excuses to settle where you are and be less than your best.

The scripture tells us about a widow who lost her husband, and her husband’s creditors came for her two sons. She was so distraught that she went to the prophet Elisha and told him everything. Elisha said to her, “What do you have in your house”? She answered, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” That’s all we need, just a little oil. (2 Kings 4:2)

Elisha told her to go out and borrow as many large empty containers as she could find. She and her sons went out and borrowed from neighbours, and they brought back a lot of empty containers. Elisha said, “Now, take the little oil that you have and pour it into the empty containers”. That didn’t make sense, but she obeyed. As she did, the oil never ran out. God multiplied it. She kept pouring and pouring until all the containers were filled. She went out and sold the oil, paid off all her debts, and had plenty to live on.

It’s interesting to know that some Christians are like this woman… What do you have in your house? “I don’t have anything, Pastor. I’m not that talented, I don’t have a good personality, I got an okay job, it’s nothing”. If you only knew what God can do with a little. A little jar of oil, a little boy’s lunch, a little faith, a little talent. God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” (Exodus 4:2) He asked the woman, “What’s in your house”? She said, “Nothing but a jar of oil”. 

Both times they had what they needed, they just didn’t recognize it. Moses had a rod that would part a sea, a staff that would be talked about thousands of years later. This widow had a little jar of oil, oil that would sustain her for years until the famine was over. What do you have? What’s in your house? What you need is close to you, it’s within reach. You are not lacking, you are not disadvantaged, and you are in a position to see the hand of God do something supernatural in your life.

God has given you everything you need for your destiny. He has already put in you the wisdom, the confidence, the strength. He is already lined up the right people, the favour, the resources, it’s already there. The question is: do you recognize what you have? Are you using what God has given you or are you overlooking it because it seems common, ordinary? Are you discounting yourself because you feel short-changed, too small or wrong nationality? You have to change your mindset.

It’s not enough to just have faith in God, that’s important, but you have to take it one step further and have faith in what God has given you. You have to believe that you are equipped, that you are empowered, that your steps are being ordered. Here is the key; you don’t have to have great talent to do something great. If you will use what you have, God will breathe on it, and you will accomplish more than you thought possible. It’s not necessarily the amount of education, the amount of resources, the amount of friends, who you know. What makes the difference is God’s favour in your life.

Don’t write off what you have. Don’t overlook what God has given you. The enemy would love for us to get stuck, thinking we are disadvantaged, “When I get more funds, more training, more favour, then I could move forward”. We are waiting for more when in fact everything we need is already there. Look around at what God has given you, and recognize what you have.

We are looking for the spectacular but it often starts with something we could easily discount, or think it’s common. What do you have in your hand? “I’m just a business person. I’m just a student. I am just a teacher. I’m just a government worker. I’m just a stay-at-home mom… But God has put something in your hand, something that seems ordinary. If you do what He is asking you to do, you are going to come into these destiny moments where you see Red Seas part, deliverance from enemies, and gifts come out that you never knew you had.

It’s in you and God put it there before you were born. He marked you for greatness. He already set the time for you to break out to levels you have never dreamed of. Now you have to get into an agreement with Him. This is not going to happen if we have a lack mentality, “I don’t have the talent, it’s too big. Pastor, I have a Red Sea in front of me right now, a dead end. What do you expect me to do”? Do the natural and God will do the supernatural… 

This is what happened with Samson. He was surrounded by the Philistines, a huge army. He had no weapons, and no protection, all the odds were against him. He looked around to try to find something to defend himself. All he could find was the jawbone of a donkey and some dead bones. It was common, a lot of dead animals out there in the desert, he could have ignored it and thought, “Well, that’s of no use” but he was smart enough to realize that victory is possible with the jawbone of a donkey! (Judges 15:16)

WHAT YOU NEED IS WITHIN REACH!

What you need to accomplish your dream will always be within reach. Pay attention to what God brings across your path, and who He brings across your path. It’s not there by accident. It’s easy to discount, think, “Oh, that’s common, that person, that opportunity, this idea, it’s just too familiar. Pastor, it’s just the jawbone of a donkey”. God uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. If you will recognize what you have, and be a good steward, then you will see what God can do!

Samson picked up that jawbone, the scripture says, “The Spirit of God came upon him, and he defeated a thousand Philistines” (Judges 15:14) One man, not with a rifle, not with armies, not with fire coming down from heaven but with something ordinary, the jawbone of a donkey. What God is going to do in your life won’t always happen in spectacular ways. Maybe some of that, but most of the time God uses something ordinary, something within reach, something close to you to do what seems impossible!

God asked Moses “What do you have in your hand”? There is something close to you. It’s easy to overlook it, it’s easy to write it off but God put it there. It’s instrumental in you reaching your destiny. Let go of what didn’t work out, and who didn’t stay in your life, the promotion you didn’t get, how you weren’t raised right. None of that has stopped your purpose. Nothing you have been through has cancelled God’s plans for your life. No challenges have reduced your greatness.

What you need is close to you. Recognize what you have… It may seem common, just a little jar of oil, just the jawbone of a donkey, just a rod. Yes, but when you use it, the Red Sea is going to part, enemies are going to be defeated, doors will open, and opportunity that thrust you into your destiny will locate you. What do you have? Is there something you are overlooking? It seems ordinary but when you do the natural, God will do the supernatural. 

In the scripture, a great crowd had followed Jesus to a remote area to hear Him teach. It was getting late in the day, almost dark and they were hungry. They could only get five loaves of bread and two small fish. Jesus prayed over the five loaves of bread and two small fish and fed off 5,000 people with 12 baskets full left over. The disciples thought they were disadvantaged but Jesus had a different idea… He just wants you to recognize what you have and use what He has given you! (John 6:1-13)

So it is with many Christians who have been serving, giving, and believing that they are going to come into some of these destiny moments, where you see God breathe on your talent, and you rise to a new level. Breathe on your finances, you come into overflow. Breathe on your health, and put the health challenge to rest. Breathe on your children, as they fulfil their purpose… It’s important to do what He asks you to do because small acts of obedience lead to great miracles. 

No more thinking “I’m disadvantaged, I have nothing”, turn it around, “I have everything I need. I’m equipped, empowered, and anointed”. If you do this, I decree and declare; like Moses, Red Seas are parting before you, doors are opening before you, and challenges turning around. Like the widow, God is going to multiply what you have and pour out abundance in your favour, receive breakthroughs, healing, and the fullness of your destiny, in Jesus’ name. 

The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’