In God's Hands

Amen.

Well, we are about halfway through a series called Gideon, the Story of Gideon.

It's based on the story of a man named Gideon in the Bible.

And what we're doing with this series is really simple.

We're just exploring a story and asking God to show us what he wants to show us.

I've said this over the last few weeks, but I want to keep repeating it because I think it's important to remember.

The Bible is insanely practical.

If you want to find some reading to do that will help you move forward in life in some area, you've got it.

It's God's word.

It's not a situation where we have to dig really deep to find something we can take and apply and use in our lives in a practical way.

It's the opposite.

It's almost overload in terms of how many takeaways, how many lessons that we can pull from Scripture.

By the time this series is done, leading up to Christmas, we will have spent six weeks going through just two chapters of the Bible.

And if you read the Bible much, you know that a chapter in the Bible is not like a chapter in a novel.

It's usually a few pages at the most.

There's so much for us.

And so we've been going through this story of Gideon just saying, hey, God, open our eyes, show us something that we can use, show us something that we can take away.

And if we would each do that personally in our own lives, if we just open up the Bible and do that and have that mentality, God would be faithful and he will show us what he wants to show us.

I just want to encourage you to do that.

That's the approach that we're taking with this story.

Now, over the last few weeks, we've kind of focused on some nuances in Gideon's story, some little details that you would probably skip over if you were just reading it quickly.

Some little details that get missed.

But when you look at them, you see these really interesting, interesting things that spark all this thought.

That's what we've given our attention to, but today we we get to the point in his story where we have to focus on the obvious.

Because sometimes you have to focus on the obvious, right?

Have you ever had a situation in life where something was obvious to you but not obvious to other people and it drove you crazy?

Yeah, right?

Like you hear a noise that no one else hears, and you just, you're like, you can't hear anything but that noise.

It's all you can hear.

And anytime it happens, you're like, do you guys not do not hear that?

How is that not driving you crazy?

Like you have situations like that.

Or how about this when when something is obvious to you and it's it's maybe something about you, something you don't like, and to you it's obvious, and everyone's gonna see it, and you're worried that it's gonna be as obvious to other people as it is to you.

So you get all self-conscious, right?

You know what I'm talking about?

This is like when you have something stuck in your teeth or there's a stain on your shirt or something like that, and you're like, everyone's gonna see this, everyone's gonna notice this, and the people around you are like, no, you can't even tell.

You can't even tell.

I didn't I didn't even see it until you told me about it.

Right?

But that's all you can see.

I get that way about my pants.

I know that's really strange.

As it comes out of my mouth, I hear that.

I get really, I get really self-conscious about my pants.

I don't know why, it's just the way it is.

And so, like, for example, I have a suit, one suit.

One suit, I've been rocking the same suit since I was 22.

I'm gonna hold on to that thing until it falls apart.

But but all of a sudden, a few months ago, I got really self-conscious about the pants on this suit.

And I don't know if I've I've shrunk or if I just never noticed this before, but but they're just they're too long.

They're too long.

The inseam is is much too long.

Here's a picture of me doing a wedding for Madison and Hannah Tompkins.

Shout out to Madison Madison and Hannah.

They're awesome people, they're good.

I mean, it was a long time coming, so it wasn't wasn't that exciting.

But the uh I'm just teasing.

But all right, so there's my pants, okay?

And if it's not clear to you, I'll make it clear.

Here's a little arrow to point to what I'm talking about.

Like, they are clearly an inch to make I'm even gonna go an inch and a half too long.

And so they just like bunched up on my shoes, and I I performed that wedding incredibly self-conscious, going, everyone's gonna stare at the legs of my pants and go, does this man not know his own inseam length?

I mean, come on, grow up, get pants that fit.

And so as soon as that wedding was done, I went and I had them tailored to fit, you know, my I took him to the dry cleaner.

I'm like, these pants are too long.

Can you help me?

And they're like, yes, we can.

And now I can wear those pants, I can feel good.

The pants I'm wearing right now, I almost feel embarrassed standing in front of you.

I really do.

Because there's this big obvious flaw with these pants, and I'm sure you've all noticed it, and I'm sure you're just being gracious and kind, not pointing it out, not just pointing at me.

There's something wrong with the right leg of these pants.

I almost want to stand like this for the rest of the service and just be like, let's talk about Jesus.

Can you see it?

You want to see it?

You can't see it?

Okay.

Here's what happened.

Went to Kohl's, bought these pants, because that's where I get my pants.

I go to Kohl's.

That's how I roll.

And I got I got these pants, I brought them home, I liked them, they fit.

I took the tags off, right?

Took the tags off, wore them once, and then I noticed this glaring issue.

There is this weird pattern shape.

It almost looks like a stain in the wash of the jeans.

I didn't notice it until after you can see it now, right?

I'm talking about on the right leg.

Alright, I have a picture.

Let me show you guys.

Okay.

This is my that's my knee right there.

That is that is my mid to upper thigh.

Okay.

Same pants that I'm wearing now.

Do you see it?

Alright, we digitally enhanced it so that you could see it a little bit better.

Okay, so go ahead and fire that.

It someone in the first service said it looks like the southern tip of South America.

You see what I'm talking about?

Alright, go go back to the original.

Go back.

Okay, go back again.

Here we go.

You see what I'm talking about?

It's nuts.

It's right here.

I mean, I see it as plain as day.

And I brought these home and I put them on.

I said, Megan, what is this?

And she's like, you can't even see it.

But I can see it.

It's odd.

Every time I put these pants on, I just go, everyone's gonna look at my pants.

They're gonna wonder what's wrong with my knee.

And I wanted to go buy new pants, and Megan wouldn't let me.

She's like, no, you can't, no, don't go spend more money on the pants, they are fine.

No one's gonna notice.

But it to me is obvious, right?

Sometimes there's stuff like that.

There's there's things that are obvious to us, but they're not obvious to anyone else, and those things kind of drive us crazy.

But then there's other times where something is just plain obvious.

And it's not it's not obvious to you or a certain group of people.

It's obvious to everybody.

It is the elephant in the room, and you you just you have to give it attention.

You cannot ignore it.

We get to a point in Gideon's story where we just have to handle what's obvious.

And so, to set this up in case you're just joining us, get you caught up really fast.

Gideon's story takes place 3,000 years ago.

Ancient Israel, Israel is under attack by a country called Midian.

They've allied with some other nations and they are oppressing Israel.

Every year they come into Israel and they they take the cattle and they take the sheep and they take the crops, and Israel's reduced to starvation.

This has been happening for seven years.

But God has a plan, he always has a plan, and most of the time, God's plan is a person.

God's plan with Jesus to save us all was through a person.

Jesus, he became a person.

God likes to work through people.

And so his person, his plan is Gideon, but Gideon is not the person any of us would pick to lead us.

Gideon is not an obvious choice.

In fact, when God comes to Gideon, Gideon is so full of fear that he's hiding in a hole in the ground.

That's where he is when God shows up.

But God tells Gideon, You're the one, and Gideon kind of tests God, and God answers the call and proves himself to Gideon.

And so now Gideon is at the point where he's got enough faith, enough courage, enough confirmation from God that he's ready to lead this army.

He's ready to lead his army against the army of Midian.

And that's where we are when we get to Judges chapter 7.

Judges 7 · chapter mention

We've already gone through a whole chapter together.

That's this is pretty efficient for me at least.

So, Judges chapter 7, verse 1.

Judges 7:1

So Jerubbaal, that is Gideon, and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Herod.

The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Morah.

The Lord said to Gideon, You have too many warriors with you.

If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.

Therefore, tell the people, whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.

So twenty-two thousand of them went home, leaving only ten thousand who were willing to fight.

Okay, let me explain what's happening.

Gideon's got 32,000 soldiers.

And God says, You got too many.

I don't want you guys to take all the credit for yourselves.

Now, this is not God being selfish or glory-seeking.

He's not self-absorbed.

But God understands that the reason that Israel is in this mess in the first place is because they lost sight of the fact that they actually need God.

Like we need God.

We really need God.

He is not the cherry on top, he's not the icing on the cake, he's not the seat warmers or the cup holder in your car.

He is essential.

And we need him.

And when we lose sight of the fact that we need him, we get off track.

That's why Israel is in the mess they're in the first place.

So God knows that if they go and they win this battle through military might, they're gonna go, wow, look what we did.

We're strong, we're powerful.

And they're not gonna be any better off than they were to begin with.

It's just that there will be a new Midian that pops up.

But here's what's kind of hard about this.

What's gonna be really interesting from Gideon's perspective?

Gideon's got 32,000 soldiers, which is a lot of people.

That's a lot of soldiers.

That's some pretty impressive numbers, but but Midian has at the very least, and we know this from details in the story, at the very least, Midian has 135,000 soldiers.

So it's 32,000 versus 135,000.

And I don't want to be the one that states the obvious, but 32,000 is less than 135,000.

Like substantially less.

And so just put yourself in Gideon's shoes.

You're sitting here and you're freaking out a little bit because you're about to go lead this army.

You're not a general, you're not even a soldier.

You've never fought anyone or anything, and you're supposed to lead this army of 32,000 against an army of 135,000.

And we know from Gideon's personality, what we've seen so far is that he's not this rock solid, you know, I have faith and it's gonna move mountains type guy.

He's kind of a warrior.

And he second guesses God and himself a lot.

And so you know Gideon is just freaking out, and all of a sudden God speaks to him.

And God says, Gideon, you know what your problem is?

The number of soldiers you have.

And Gideon says, God, you have taken the words right out of my mouth.

I was just about to pray.

I have some recruiting strategies, I have some ideas for how we can get some more support.

And God says, No, no, you got too many soldiers.

And Gideon's like, Yeah, God, I don't know if you know how wars work.

But 32,000 is not as much as 135,000.

That is that is obvious.

But God says, No, I want you to to give the men an out.

I want you to ask anyone who's afraid to raise their hand and they can go home.

And you know, Gideon had to be like, Can I raise my hand?

Is that okay?

Can I be one of the ones that leaves?

No.

But Gideon does it.

He says, fine, and and you know, he must have been thinking, man, I hope like, I hope no one leaves.

Maybe, maybe this is this awesome test for for God to show me how my soldiers are so full of faith and and might, how they're not afraid at all.

Maybe I'm gonna I'm gonna say this and no one's gonna raise their hand, no one's gonna leave, and I'm gonna go, that's right.

These these 32,000, they might be small in number, but they are mighty in strength.

But nope.

22,000 of them go, great, cool.

All right, that's what happens.

Now it is it is 10,000 versus 135,000 plus.

And again, don't want to state the obvious, but I'm not I'm not betting on those odds.

Okay?

So we continue in verse 4.

But the Lord told Gideon, There are still too many.

Bring them down to the spring, and I'll test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.

When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, Divide the men into two groups.

In one group put all those who cut the water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs, which is gross.

But you gotta remember, 3,000 years ago, table manners didn't exist.

And the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.

Only three hundred of the men drank from their hands, all the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream, probably because they were they were so thirsty.

They've been out for days.

I mean, this is the Middle East, they've gotta be, they've just got to be, you know, almost dying of thirst.

And the Lord told Gideon, With these three hundred men, I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites, send all the others home.

So Gideon collected the provisions and ram's horns of the other warriors and sent them home.

But he kept the 300 men with him.

I think it's really funny that Gideon got all their stuff first.

Like, what's he gonna do?

He had 300 men and the supplies of 10,000 just lying around.

He said, You're with 300 soldiers.

Like, what a horrible day.

You start the day nervous because God's asked you to do something you don't want to do.

Gideon did not want to lead the army.

He protested, he tried to get out of it.

You're already kind of doing this against your will because God's pretty much made you at this point.

And you've got 32,000 soldiers, they've got 135,000.

You already know that you're gonna die, and by the end of the day, you've got 300.

And God's like, now the army looks good.

Now I give it my seal of approval.

And you know, Gideon's sitting there going, God, I do you want me to die?

What have I what have I done to offend you?

Because you've called me to do something, but you have not given me the resources to do it.

You ever feel that way?

I mean, Gideon's feeling something right now that all of us know how.

I mean, we all know how that feels.

To desire something, to desire some result in our lives, to have a dream, to have a vision, but but to not possess the resources that you need to pull it off.

To feel like you don't have enough of something.

And all of us know what it feels like to not have enough.

I mean, all of us can think of an area in our lives right now where we can honestly say, I don't have enough to do what I need to do.

And it's funny because when we when we feel that way, our our first reaction as people is to ask for more.

Because that's how we think as people.

We think that in order to do big things, we need big resources.

If I'm gonna do this this big thing, I need to amass as many resources as I can.

Maybe you're starting a business and you want to be incredibly successful and you need capital, right?

And you need a space and you need talent and you need employees and you need all this stuff, and so you try to amass as many resources as you can to accomplish the vision that you have.

That's the world we live in.

We feel like in order for big things to happen, big resources are necessary.

But God is showing Gideon something here, he's showing all of us something here.

That God does not require much to do something big.

God does not require great resources to perform great miracles.

He doesn't look at any situation and go, man, I don't know what I'm gonna do with that.

I need more.

That's not enough.

You need to bring me more.

He thinks very differently than us.

His perspective is completely, completely different.

We see it happen all the time in Scripture.

In fact, Jesus is the classic example.

There's this very famous story of Jesus.

I've I've talked about it probably ten times.

It's one of the most famous miracles that Jesus performed.

It's the only miracle other than the resurrection that appears in all four of the gospels.

It's Jesus feeding over 5,000 people miraculously.

Jesus wore a lot of hats.

This is when Jesus was a caterer.

This is like Jesus doing something.

There's probably a couple caterers in the room.

5,000 people, that's a lot of people to feed.

And the way that the story all unfolds is that the disciples in Jesus, they've gone away, they've been with people for countless hours, they are tired, they're they're kind of over it because people can be a lot.

Some people are just demanding, some people are needy, some people are crazy, some people are all three.

And it's funny how the demanding, needy, crazy people can find you.

They can find you.

I have experienced this.

They have like a radar, and there's bam, there they are, and you're like, wow, how do you find me wherever I go?

That's what Jesus is experiencing in this moment.

Because he's gone to be away, the disciples want to be away, and all the needy people come and they want something from Jesus, and the disciples are exhausted too, and they they look at Jesus, just hoping Jesus will say, Guys, not today.

Tomorrow.

Just tomorrow.

Just give us a day.

No, no, no.

Jesus has compassion.

And he says, Look, we'll meet your needs.

And he starts to pray with people and teach people and minister to people.

And the disciples go, I guess we're doing this, and so they start doing it as well.

And this happens for hours.

This whole day passes.

And at the end of the day, the disciples all of a sudden come to Jesus and they go, You know, Jesus, you know, we were talking.

These people have to be really hungry.

So we should probably send them home so they can get something to eat because it's all about them, right?

I mean, we're yes, we're hungry, but we're not worried about ourselves.

We did we just want the people to be okay.

So could you send them away that way they can get something to eat?

And you know the disciples were really just starving and tired of the people, and they're like, How can we get Jesus to get these people to go?

Just, you know, let's act like we care about the people.

And so, hey, do this.

But Jesus responds, he turns the tables on them, he calls their bluff.

He's like, Oh, you you're worried about them being hungry?

Mark chapter 6.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

Jesus says, You feed them.

I love that.

Great job, guys.

You just identified a need.

Go, go accomplish that.

And here's the thing if if if I came to a professional cater caterer in today's world with modern technology and all the tools we have at our disposal, and I said, Hey, short notice, need you to whip up a meal for 5,000 people.

That person would laugh at me and then charge me some crazy exuberant number to even attempt it.

Now go back 2,000 years.

Go feed 5,000 people.

What?

And look at the response that the disciples have.

With what?

Again, I don't want to state the obvious.

That's what's going on.

This is an obvious moment.

Jesus, I don't know if you noticed or not, but you know, 5,000 people is a lot of people.

How do you want us to feed these people?

They go on to say we'd have to work for, we'd have to work for a year, for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people.

And this is what Jesus says.

Well, you know, how much bread do you have?

Go find out how much bread we have, and we'll start there.

And they are so annoyed with Jesus at this moment in time.

They're just going, what is he thinking?

And so that they go and they do what Jesus says to you.

But you know, they probably do it like very, very, just I don't know, nonchalantly or almost with a little bit of an attitude, like, get the bread.

How much bread do we have?

How much bread do you think we have?

Who carries bread with them?

Like, anybody have bread on you right now in your pocket somewhere?

You're carrying like a French loaf or something like that?

No?

And so that they find five loaves, and when I say loaves, I'm talking like little, like think crackers, okay?

Five small little loaves of bread, like dinner rolls, and a few fish.

And I love the fact that Jesus asked for bread, but they also bring two fish.

I think it was just to like add a little insult to injury.

They're like, oh, hey Jesus, remember how you asked us to find how much bread we have?

We have five loaves of bread and two fish, if you can work with that, right?

Just, you know, see if that helps.

And this is them saying, Jesus, we told you so.

We told you that our resources do not match the need.

Our resources don't even come close to what needs to be done.

And Jesus takes the five loaves and the two fish, and he says, Hey, have the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred, and Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, and he looked up toward heaven, and he blessed them, and then breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people.

He also divided the fish for everyone to share, and they all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.

A total of five thousand men and their families were fed.

He takes five loaves and two fish, and there's leftovers.

Twelve baskets of leftovers.

Just so happens that there were twelve disciples.

One basket for each disciple.

I love the fact that Jesus being God shows us what God's perspective really is.

Because the disciples bring five loaves of bread and two fish almost sarcastically.

You know, what are you gonna do with this?

And Jesus looks at it and he says, Yeah, I can work with that.

That'll do.

And he takes that small amount and miraculously he multiplies it.

Not just to meet the need, but to meet the need with extra.

Because that's what God does.

You know, Gideon begins with an army of 32,000.

I don't think you can call 300 men an army.

That's like a football team or something like that.

You know what I mean?

With you know, with a few extras, with a fifth string or something like that.

But I'm not 300 men is not an army.

And as a man, Gideon looks at that and goes, I can't work with this.

This isn't enough to do what you've asked me to do.

But God looks at it and says, That seems about right.

I can work with that.

I can use that.

That's plenty for me.

God requires very, very small resources to perform miracles.

And the reason I say that this morning, and the intention for us talking about this is simply this.

I know that some of us in this room, many of us, want to see miracles happen in our lives.

We need maybe to see some miracles happen in our lives, but our issue is that we know we don't have enough.

We're lacking.

And maybe we believe that the answer to see the change we need to see in our lives is for our resources to grow.

When in reality, what God is asking us is to simply trust him with what little we have.

To simply give to him what little we have and watch what he does with it.

I know we're talking about the obvious stuff today, and so I just want to get this out of the way, because usually when you're talking about Gideon's story and, you know, little resources, give it to God, accomplish big things, it's like, oh, this is about to be a giving message, and we're gonna roll a thermometer on stage and we're gonna have this.

No, we don't.

This is not this is not a setup for something.

We don't do big giving care.

That's not how we we are as a church.

But I will say this, as far as the whole money thing goes, this this principle totally applies to money.

We it's it's crazy.

It really is.

We have more money as Americans in our world today than than any group of people in the history of the world have ever had.

We have more.

I mean, the the fact that we can drive through uh, you know, a Starbucks and go$9 for coffee, yeah, that seems fair.

That just shows you that the vast, the vast resources we have, it's it's crazy.

It's just that we're used to to a lifestyle that is so expensive that we've convinced ourselves that wants our needs and not the other way around, and so we're used to spending too much money for all kinds of things.

It's just, I'm not saying this to make any of us feel guilty, and there are some of us in the room that really are in really bad places financially, and I'm sure a lot of us feel strapped, but the reality is if you are alive right now in America, you have more money than practically anyone that has ever existed ever.

Ever.

But we still feel that stress.

We still feel that all the time.

I feel that.

And this principle of when you want more resources and you feel like you need more resources to do the things you need to do, the answer is really just to give the resources you have to God.

That totally applies to money.

I believe, and I'll just say this and we'll move on from the whole money thing.

I do believe that a significant amount of the frustration that Christians feel, and if you're not a Christian, if you haven't made this step with Jesus, this doesn't apply to you.

This is okay, but a significant percentage, maybe even the majority, of the frustration that Christians feel financially results from them waiting for God to give them more, but never trusting God with what they have.

And it's it's it's it's kind of crazy because we just don't think, we don't think right sometimes.

It should be that you would trust God with your money first, and after he shows you that he's real and faithful, then you would give him your soul.

But it's it's funny how we like flip it.

We will trust God with our soul and be like, yes, you have me, but not my money.

And one of those is way more important than the other.

Right?

It's just that's the way it works.

Money tends to be one of the last things we trust God with.

And I just want to say to you that if money is where you feel that lack, if if your finances are where you feel that lack, I'm never gonna tell you, oh, well, if you will give money to the church or to another cause, if you'll just be generous or whatever, then God's gonna multiply.

Look, He makes promises and he does that, and people have experienced that.

And I've Jesus said that.

Luke 6, 38, give and you'll receive, and it'll come back to you, pressed down, shaking.

I mean, it's like that's a promise.

But then churches will take that promise and they'll they'll manipulate with that promise, and we don't do that.

So I'm not gonna sit here and tell you you need to give today if you want to see that change.

But what I will tell you is this there's so many people that don't do things God's way and then wonder why it's not working.

So just do it God's way, see what happens.

Okay, that's all we're gonna talk about, money-wise.

But I want you to think about life.

I want you to think about yourself when it comes to what you lack.

And all the situations that you feel like you're in over your head or you're at the end of your rope because you don't have enough within you to do what you feel like you're supposed to do.

You don't have enough, you're not enough.

Maybe you're single and and you don't want to be single anymore.

And you are just about out of patience.

Right?

You can't you just can't wait anymore.

And you're you're so close to just giving up on waiting for the right person, you're just gonna settle for who's around.

And you might look at God and say, I can't wait any longer.

I've waited for so long, I do not have the capacity to be alone anymore, to wait, I can't do it.

I don't have enough left in the tank.

Maybe you're married, and there's not there's not that much love left right now.

You've been married for a while, and and those warm fuzzies, they're they're not there.

The honeymoon period, that is, that is gone.

And if you're honest, you're like, we just don't have much love for one another right now.

I don't think we have enough love left in the tank to make it the distance in this marriage.

There's not enough left.

We don't have enough of the resources we need.

Maybe you're in a situation, you don't know what to do, you don't have enough wisdom.

You've got you've got so little understanding of even where to start in your life, and you're not sure which way to go, you don't know what's up, what's down, you don't have enough wisdom to see yourself through, and and you don't you don't think you you can make it.

What I want you to understand this morning is you have enough.

You have enough.

I want you to believe that you have enough.

Second Peter 1, 3 says that God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

Through our knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and goodness.

His divine power has given us everything we need.

We don't often feel that way.

Rarely do we feel like I have everything I need.

Through the divine power and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like we don't believe that.

We want to, but sometimes we don't.

But this is God saying, I have given you everything you need by my power.

And it's kind of an interesting thought because what God is really teaching us here is that, hey, I have everything you need, I've given you everything you need, but the only way you feel like you have everything you need is when you give everything you have back to me.

When you put it in my hands and you say, I trust you.

I trust you.

What I want you to understand this morning is that you have enough.

You are enough.

If you have Jesus, you have enough.

And when you look at those areas of your life and you feel that lack and you feel like like you're running on fumes, you're running on empty, the answer is not always having more.

There's nothing wrong with desiring more, there's nothing wrong with asking for more.

In fact, be bold, pray, say, God, fill me up.

The Bible tells us that God will give us more.

James 1, 5 says, if any of you lacks wisdom, ask our God.

He will not rebuke you for asking.

He's generous.

That God will give us more.

But but what I'm what I'm trying to help us understand this morning, to help me understand, because I need this, is that so often when my natural thought is, God, I need more, what I've learned is that God is actually telling me, give what little you have to me and see what happens with it.

You think you need more, but I don't need more.

You think that that you can't do this without more, but Justin, what I'm telling you is that if you'll just give me what you've got and trust me with it, you will have not just enough, but more than enough.

You're gonna have leftovers.

Because God is the God who can take an army of 300 and beat 135,000.

Spoiler alert, they win.

I'm sorry, I didn't hope you didn't.

It's a 3,000-year-old story.

You've had plenty of time.

So this is God.

He takes He takes 300, defeats 135,000, no big deal.

This is God.

Five loaves of bread, two fish, sure, we can handle 5,000.

He's the same God in our lives today.

And he can take that small amount of love that you have left, that small amount of grace, that small amount of forgiveness, that small amount of patience, that small amount of hope, that small amount of faith.

And if you will give him a drop of what you have left, he will turn it into a river and it will overflow in your life because that is what God does.

That's who he is.

And all he asks is for us to give him what we can barely muster.

That's all he asks.

We're gonna close, we're gonna worship.

That's how we we do.

I want to say this, I do believe there are some of us in this room, and when it comes to what isn't enough, we would just look at ourselves and say, all of me.

Maybe you don't feel like enough today.

Maybe you look at your life and you feel like it hasn't amounted to much.

You used to have dreams and hopes, and you had a vision for what life would be like, and your life today does not match that vision, and maybe you're not okay with that, and that's alright.

But you need to understand that God looks at you and he sees enough.

And you might evaluate yourself and you might see five loaves and two fish.

And God looks at you and he sees exactly what he needs to perform a miracle.

He looks at you and he says, That'll do.

That's exactly what I've been waiting for.

And if you're here this morning and you've never given yourself to him, I don't mean believed in him, I mean given yourself to him.

Or you've ever looked at him and said, God, I'm yours.

I don't know why you'd want this.

I haven't been able to figure out how to get much done with this.

If you would just surrender your heart to him this morning and give him what you've got, he'll multiply it.

And you'll be more than you believe you ever could be.

Because when you hand a little to God, it becomes a lot.

That's just what happens.

You can trust him.

He loves you.

He's a big God, and he doesn't need big resources to do big things.

Just give him what you've got and see what he does.

Let's pray together.

Jesus, thank you so much for coming to this earth and showing us that you do not require big resources to do big things.

That you don't need much to accomplish miracles in this world, Lord.

All you need is for us to give you whatever we've got left, whatever, whatever we can muster, whatever's barely hanging on.

You can take fumes, Lord, and you can and you can start a fire.

Jesus, we need you.

We need you to do what we cannot do.

And Lord, there are many of us in this room, and and we are struggling right now because we just don't have what we need.

We can't muster enough to accomplish the things we need to accomplish.

We can't fix it, we can't heal it, we can't understand it, we can't change it.

But you can do all of those things, Lord, and all you ask is for us to give you whatever we've got left.

And so as a church, we want to be those people.

We want to be the people that say, God, it's yours.

My heart, it's yours.

My thoughts, they're yours.

They're not always pure, they're not always good, but they're yours.

God, my my time is yours.

My talent, it's yours.

My money, it's yours.

My my family belongs to you, Lord.

My life, my dreams, my hopes, my my career, everything, God.

I put it all in your hands, and I'm asking you, God, to multiply it.

I'm asking you, God, to do with it what I can't.

And if we will do that, God, I believe that you'll be faithful.

We believe that you'll be faithful.

That you'll show up and that you'll do what only you can do.

And we're desperate for that, Lord.

We love you, and we ask all this in your name.

Amen.