Unlock God’s Plan for Your Life

God wants to use your life for His glory. As a Spirit-filled believer, you carry the potential to become a vessel for God’s purposes. So what’s the key to being used by God?

To answer that, I want to take a look at the story of Jesus miraculously feeding a multitude.

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” (John 6:5-7)

So there was a need. By all natural standards, the situation seemed impossible to overcome. The crowd was too big, and the supply seemed inadequate. But then something became available.

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. (John 6:8-11)

A little boy offered to the Lord his food supply - five loaves of bread, two fish. Concerning the boy’s offering, Andrew asked a fair question: “But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

Jesus, seeming to ignore Andrew’s doubt-filled question, answered confidently, “Tell everyone to sit down..” Tell everyone to sit down? Jesus didn’t even address the doubt behind Andrew’s question. He simply responded with action, with demonstration.

Now the Bible tells us that that there were more than 5,000 people present - the men alone numbered 5,000. Let’s be conservative and assign only one child and one woman to each man. So at least 15,000 people were present and in need of food.

A big need; a seemingly small supply. But the need was met, and the crowd was fed. 

The boy offered what he had to Jesus - his five loaves of bread and two fish. Here’s what Luke’s gospel records Jesus doing with the bread:

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. (Luke 9:16)

So what can we learn from this most remarkable story? 

The boy’s meal was not enough to meet the need. The boy’s meal needed to be surrendered to Jesus before it could be distributed. Jesus broke the bread before He multiplied it. In the boy’s hands, the food was not enough. 

In our hands, our lives are not enough to meet the needs of the world’s masses. But in the hands of Jesus, our nothing becomes everything. Brokenness precedes usefulness; surrender precedes the miraculous. 

There is no limit to what God can do with a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Put your life in the hands of God. Surrender. Let Him break you, mold you, create anew. Tell Him, “God, if you can use nothing, here I am.”

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The Key to Being Used by God

God wants to use your life for His glory. As a Spirit-filled believer, you carry the potential to become a vessel for God’s purposes. So what’s the key to being used by God?

To answer that, I want to take a look at the story of Jesus miraculously feeding a multitude.

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” (John 6:5-7)

So there was a need. By all natural standards, the situation seemed impossible to overcome. The crowd was too big, and the supply seemed inadequate. But then something became available.

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. (John 6:8-11)

A little boy offered to the Lord his food supply - five loaves of bread, two fish. Concerning the boy’s offering, Andrew asked a fair question: “But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

Jesus, seeming to ignore Andrew’s doubt-filled question, answered confidently, “Tell everyone to sit down..” Tell everyone to sit down? Jesus didn’t even address the doubt behind Andrew’s question. He simply responded with action, with demonstration.

Now the Bible tells us that that there were more than 5,000 people present - the men alone numbered 5,000. Let’s be conservative and assign only one child and one woman to each man. So at least 15,000 people were present and in need of food.

A big need; a seemingly small supply. But the need was met, and the crowd was fed. 

The boy offered what he had to Jesus - his five loaves of bread and two fish. Here’s what Luke’s gospel records Jesus doing with the bread:

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. (Luke 9:16)

So what can we learn from this most remarkable story? 

The boy’s meal was not enough to meet the need. The boy’s meal needed to be surrendered to Jesus before it could be distributed. Jesus broke the bread before He multiplied it. In the boy’s hands, the food was not enough. 

In our hands, our lives are not enough to meet the needs of the world’s masses. But in the hands of Jesus, our nothing becomes everything. Brokenness precedes usefulness; surrender precedes the miraculous. 

There is no limit to what God can do with a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Put your life in the hands of God. Surrender. Let Him break you, mold you, create anew. Tell Him, “God, if you can use nothing, here I am.”

ENJOY DAVID'S WEEKLY BLOG? CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL.

Carry Your Cross

Yesterday, my aunt and uncle, who are missionaries to Romania, gathered with several of us family members at my grandmother’s house. We gathered to celebrate my Aunt’s birthday. It was a rare but very much enjoyed moment. Gatherings like that are, for us, few and far between. Our family is scattered seed, purposefully planted by the hand of God in various regions of the world.

Though my immediate family gathers quite consistently, we have, for the most part, settled with the reality that it may not always be that way. We are committed to going anywhere the Lord might lead for the sake of the gospel.

In fact, I remember saying good-bye to my grandparents when I was only 7 years old. After a wonderful season of them having lived with us, my grandparents, in an unexpected season of life, saw an opportunity to get the gospel into Russia. The night before they flew out of the country, my parents and my siblings spent time talking with them. I remember the entire family crying together. It was heartbreaking.

Yet, even then, we knew why it had to be done.

Now back in the States, my grandparents still pastor here in Southern California, as do my parents.

So we gathered on Sunday evening. I stood at my grandmother’s house until about 11pm, talking about politics, old family stories and the Lord’s agenda for the nations.

But that got me thinking about the price of ministry. We often hear of God’s blessings, and I believe in God’s blessings – the ones that make us smile.

But we’ve also been blessed with a cross. We have the honor of sacrificial response. (And I use “sacrificial” hesitantly, for the reality is that we end up being blessed anyway, so there really is no such thing as sacrifice for us – we always come up with more than we put in.)

We all have a cross to bear for the sake of the Kingdom.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.” - Matthew 16:24

Notice that Jesus says this to his disciples. He doesn’t say this to admirers, listeners or fans. He says it to those who are committed to doing what He does.

To be saved, you just need faith. However, to be a disciple, it takes the rest of what you have.

The cross is a place of death. When following Christ, when doing His work, there will be things in your life that have to die. But that’s where the real power is found – in the surrendered life.

We must graduate from elementary faith, and we must pick up the cross. Not everything will be easy. Christ never promised easy. If you want to be used of God, then you must die daily, surrender all and commit totally to His purposes. My encouragement to you today: pick up your cross!

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