Hand Full part 5
The thing is... we have everything we need. But if we don't know what we have, it doesn't do us very much good. And, listen, I KNOW that God is always looking out for us like the amazing Father He is. I KNOW that He does things behind the scenes that we might not be aware of. But what we've been looking at the last few days is really OUR part of the bargain. Jesus made the Way of Grace (He IS the Way). We respond with the Walk of Faith. Believing that we have something equips and empowers us to give something. Because--I say it all the time--you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So you need to KNOW what you have... and you have to BELIEVE that you have it. Know it, with a knowledge that passes knowledge, and believe it. Receive it, and release it. Give what you've got. Give it ALL you've got. God wanted Moses to do something that Moses didn't think he could do. And God's question was, "What's in your hand?". We come to Him from that place of need, and He responds by directing us to what we already have. I have no lack because my God has no lack. And He love me and has given all things into my hands. He has filled me to overflowing with His love by giving me His Holy Spirit (the love receptor). Now, instead of trying to fill my hands with something... instead of trying to GET something that I think I don't have... instead of looking for love in all the wrong places... I know that my hands are full. When something is a handful--more than I think I can do--all I need to do is use what's in my hands. When God asked Moses what was in his hands, it was a rod. And then the rod became a serpent, and Moses ran in fear. He didn't know what he was capable of, and when it manifested it was almost too much for him. That's the way it is a lot of times. We try so hard to "make something happen." To fix things (that may or may not be broken) to OUR satisfaction. We run around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get something. We bang our heads against the wall and inevitably end up with a headache. We get discouraged. And bitter. And then we give what we have. We discourage others. "I failed, so what's the point of you even trying?" We spread our bitterness like a virus. Because it's like this: What you feed is what grows. But if you realize how full of it you are--the Holy Spirit, God's mercy, and grace, and love--then out of your abundance you can give mercy, and grace, and love! We love God (by loving each other) because He first loved us. He made the first move. He finished the work. He gave all things into our hands. And what we do is respond. We walk by faith, not by sight. We receive that love and we release it. We let what's inside come out. Not by trying to force it out, but simply by filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Letting God love us to the max so we can love each other to the max. What's in your hand? Even if it's empty, it's really not. Because a helping hand sometimes needs to be empty. So that you grip someone else's hand and help them up. You can use your hands to embrace each other. And I think, most of the time, that's what we need more than anything else. We need to know that we are loved. We ARE loved... so we CAN love!