What you have is what God will use. What he gives you will be what is required.
Why do we become so hyper focused on what we don’t have and then spend our lives trying to get more? Our entire existence gets wrapped up in trying to earn more so we can get more. For what? Really, does all of that really make you happy, or does it add the stress of trying to pay for it, maintain it and manage it.
In my late 30’s I wanted nothing but the big house to fill with all the beautiful things. So, we built it and I decorated it. Then we struggled to keep it. Soon, what we owned owned us.
We then entered legal battles to keep our little girls who we were adopting from an orphanage in Mexico. Money was needed for attorneys and the problem was I had spent all our money plus I had charged every card we had to it’s max. That’s when we began selling things. Piece by piece, I sold all the beautiful things I had filled the big house with just so we could pay the next attorney to fight for our family.
Eventually, our family sat in an empty house with nothing but mattresses on the floor. And you know what I heard? I heard the echo of laughter. Our kids were racing through the entire house on scooters screaming with delight, “Why didn’t we get rid of everything a long time ago? This is awesome, Mom!”
That was the first day I felt free from everything I had been working so hard to collect and build. We sold the big dream house and we began traveling. That was 13 years ago. I still don’t own a house, a bed, a dining room table or a couch. And honestly, I don’t need any of it. I’ve found what God has given me is enough and when my heart isn’t constantly chasing more, then my heart is free to be filled by things far greater than my money could buy.
One day this life will be over and you will have a legacy that outlives you. I assure you that legacy will have nothing to do with what you bought or how much money you had in your account. The legacy you leave will be how you used what God gave you. How will you use the time God gives you? How will you use the talents he has blessed you with? How will you use what you have to help others?
The legacy of a man named Shamgar is summed up in 2 sentences in Judges chapter 3. His entire life story, everything that would be remembered, written and talked about is right here. Judges 3:31, “Shamgar son of Anath rescued Israel. He once killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.”
That’s it. His whole life comes down to this. We know because he is in the book of Judges that he is one of the 12 judges God himself would raise up as a rescuer for the Israelites. He rescued his people by using an ox goad.
First, I know you want to know what an ox goad is. Well, it’s simply a stick about 8 feet long used to poke and guide an ox when plowing. And just in case you’re a city girl, an ox is just a cow. So essentially, this is a cattle prod. Shamgar rescued his people by using a cattle prod as a very unexpected weapon for victory.
What he had is what God used. What God had given him is all that was required. He didn’t have to wait to fight his battles until he had the proper weapons. He didn’t have to store up an artillery before going to battle. Nope, he showed up with his cattle prod and he did what had to be done.
What we see here is God wants us to use what he has already given us instead of thinking we have to have something more or something different. What you have already is enough. The simplest thing you have is the most powerful thing you could possibly have when God chooses to use it.
God uses simple things to accomplish great things. You don’t need more things. You don’t need different things. You need to let God work through the simplest of things you already have.
God uses simple people to accomplish great things.