When Our Not Enough Meets God's Abundance

In this episode of 'Steps to Trusting,' Erin Michele addresses common fears of inadequacy and highlights how God can use our small offerings for great purposes. The biblical story of the loaves and fishes (John 6), is used as an example of what God can do when we willingly offer what we have.   By reflecting on the armor of God (Ephesians 6) and sharing personal practices, Erin provides a practical example of a little step offered to God that can help the listener overcome fear, embrace faith, and recognize one's identity in Christ. Listeners are invited to engage further by visiting ErinMichele.net.
00:00 Welcome to Steps to Trusting
00:22 Overcoming Feelings of Inadequacy
01:45 The Miracle of Loaves and Fishes
04:14 Applying the Lesson to Our Lives
09:44 The Armor of God
15:52 Final Encouragement and Prayer
18:35 Closing and Next Steps

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi friends, I'm Erin Michele. You've found yourself at Steps to Trusting, where it's my goal to meet you where you are in your faith journey, and to encourage you to continue to transfer your trust from yourself and your actions to the God who is enough. If you are like me, and you need to be reminded over and over that you never had to be enough because we trust a god who is.

[00:00:21] Then you are in the right place.

[00:00:22] On this episode, we are going to talk about how we step out in active faith and offering what we have to the Lord instead of letting fear paralyze us. If you have ever felt you're not capable, what's being demanded of you is too much, or that you have too little to offer in this situation, then this podcast episode is for you.

[00:00:46] We're coming off of an episode with Christie Thomas, where we talked about the big task of discipling our children. How little habits, can impact the lives of our children and their discipleship. We talked about how when we take these little actions, it leaves room to see that we didn't have very much to offer, but God did a lot with our little. If you haven't tuned into that episode, I highly encourage you to tune in and to check out Christie's book.

[00:01:16] We're gonna continue in the same type of conversation. I want to draw you in to a feeling I know many of us have experienced when we see a task in front of us and we see a need in front of us and we wonder.

[00:01:33] Who am I to help or make an impact in this space? What do I have to offer that's enough to be called into this great need? I know this is often a fear that we face.

[00:01:45] let's jump into a passage about the loaves and the fishes and see what God did when a little boy offered up the little that he had and how God used it to do great things. In this passage, Jesus and the disciples are away from the town and there are lots of people who have come to listen to Jesus, and Jesus asks a question. That question is in John six, verse five, lifting up his eyes then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, Where will we buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. I read that and it's interesting to think of God's testing of Philip.

[00:02:30] And I, I'm really thinking of that as an invitation to see the need. Jesus slowed down and he let the disciples say, Hey, here's the need. This is a need we have. We, we're going to need to feed these people. He invites them into seeing that they don't have very much to offer. And then he feeds the whole crowd with lots of leftovers. So how does he do it? When Jesus invites them into this need. Philip answers in verse seven, 200 denarii of bread wouldn't be enough for them to even get a little. And so we see that they recognize how big this need is. They recognize that it's more than they have to offer.

[00:03:11] But one of the disciples says here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? When I think about this story, I think about how does he find out that this boy has these loaves and fish to offer such a little for so many. And I just imagine the little boy running up in the crowd maybe he overheard Jesus and just his willingness and his faith to say, I don't have much, but here's what I have.

[00:03:40] Yeah. And even just the childlike faith many of us as adults would look at what we have and say, this is clearly not enough for everyone. This would be silly for me to offer in this space. But this boy with childlike faith came to them and said, Hey, this is what I have.

[00:04:00] You can have it. And I'm just so encouraged by that faith for him to look at the little that he had and to offer it to Jesus and to see what God would do with his little. My conversation with Christy actually reminded me of another conversation with a friend of mine where we too were discussing this concept of bringing the little that we have and seeing what God will do with it. When talking to my friend, she brought up this idea that I imagine the adults in the crowd would have, right? That thought of what I have is not enough for the need here. We look so much at the need and often sometimes we also look at the little that we have instead of looking at Jesus and who he is. I want to share with you the wisdom of this friend of mine. And she said, it's not about you, but about what God can do. And I think often we do fall into that place of thinking, what I have to offer is so small. Sometimes we let that paralyze us and we let it stop us from offering what we have thinking that What I can do isn't good enough. What I have to offer isn't big enough. How can I make an impact when the need is so great, right? There are these, these lies in our head that tell us you have to do more and be more and offer more to make that impact, to make a change.

[00:05:27] I think this relates to all of the relationships and the situations in our life. It relates to when we want to compare ourselves and we see, well, this person has this gift.

[00:05:40] And so I'm going to let them do that instead of with faith offering what we have or

[00:05:47] We let ourselves be paralyzed by thinking what we have is not enough.

[00:05:52] In fact, I know that it is a fear that paralyzes me. Sometimes I'm paralyzed by the fear of what other people will think of me. Sometimes it's the fear of what if I don't do it right or if I don't do it good enough. What if I make a mistake? And often these fears can paralyze me because these lies tell me that I need to be enough on my own, that I need to do it all by myself, that I need to earn an identity.

[00:06:20] But that's not what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us we are dearly loved. It tells us that God sings over us with rejoicing. It tells us that he loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us, for me, for you.

[00:06:38] So while my fears tell me I need to earn an identity, I need to prove myself, I need to be enough in all of the situations in front of me. My God says. Yes, I made you in my image,

[00:06:53] But I don't always live in that space of understanding that and believing that.

[00:07:01] Sometimes I live in the space where I'm too focused on doing it right. Or what others will think instead of the truths of who God has made me to be.

[00:07:12] I'm encouraged to from the passage where it says Jesus knew what he was about to do. It's so interesting to me to think of the fact that God knows what we have to offer. He knows what's available in the crowd. He knows that he can take our little but he wants us to come to him and offer what we have with willing hearts.

[00:07:36] I find this really encouraging because God doesn't say go get all the things that you have to have, or wait until you're completely prepared. He invites us into his work by offering the little that we have to watch and see what he will do with that little.

[00:07:55] It encourages me and it reminds me that I don't have to be anyone but who God made me to be. I don't have to strive to have more than what God provided in my life. I turn to Him in my weaknesses. I can offer up even my lack to Him.

[00:08:15] I can show up honestly with saying here is my little but I offer it to you.

[00:08:21] That's a heart position that I want to have. And yet, when I think about the questions of, Do I have enough? Is what I'm offering the right thing? Am I doing it right? And I judge myself, I, I often feel paralyzed and not knowing how to step forward in that. I want to be ready. to not be paralyzed, but to be ready to offer the little that I have to the Lord.

[00:08:48] And in order to do that, I have to rely on God and his faithfulness and not myself. I have to rely On his protection, on his provision, on his ability, on his gifts, and not myself. And I think even of those five loaves and the fishes, I think of the fact that God provided those five loaves and fishes, right?

[00:09:11] He didn't ask for what they didn't have. But he used what he had already given them, when it was offered back to him willingly.

[00:09:22] I'm seeing a link between this. This concept of offering a little to God and actually specific practice that is changing me, that is making an impact in my life.

[00:09:36] So I wanted to share with you guys one of the little things that I've been doing that has been making a big impact in my life.

[00:09:44] When I find myself in that place feeling paralyzed, What I've been practicing is to put on the armor of God I've realized that this is exactly what I need to be looking at when I find myself in that place of fear, when I find myself paralyzed and I don't know what the next step is to take,

[00:10:03] that the next step for me has been to put on the armor of God.

[00:10:08] Found in Ephesians 6, and I want to look at starting in verse 14. It says, Therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and shoes for your feet, having put on readiness given by the gospel of peace in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, which can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that.

[00:10:41] And keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

[00:10:47] This passage, thinking about this passage, praying this passage, thinking about each of the pieces of the armor of God is one of the small habits that I am.

[00:11:00] Trying to invest the time that I have, that God has given me the time. He has given me his word. He has given me the knowledge of this passage. And I am taking that little and pouring it back to God, offering that time, to pray that prayer. And I'll tell you that God is changing me in that small offering to him.

[00:11:25] Let's look at a couple pieces of this armor.

[00:11:28] The passage starts with the belt of truth. And friends, when I quoted to you those verses that you are dearly loved, that you are sung over, that Jesus died for us. This is me practicing putting on the belt of truth.

[00:11:46] Putting on the belt of truth is reminding myself who I am because of who God is.

[00:11:53] Next comes the breastplate of righteousness. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness is being reminded that my righteousness . is from Jesus, is from God. It's not of my own. It's not of works, lest I should boast. It creates gratefulness in my own heart, looking to the fact that I don't have to do everything right. I don't have to be enough. I have also been just very recently starting to pray this over each of my children that they would learn to put on the armor of God. That they would learn to strap the belt of truth, that the helmet of salvation would protect their minds, that it is God alone who saves, that it is not of their self.

[00:12:43] And that they would hold the shield of faith,

[00:12:46] believing that God is faithful. So I can believe him. I can have faith because he is faithful. And I'm realizing that this very practice is something that I can offer back out of what God has given me. I can offer my time, the knowledge of God's word that he has given me. and my willingness.

[00:13:10] This offering of the little is making a big impact in my life as, and is impacting me in other places so that I don't feel paralyzed, that I don't feel like I'd have nothing to offer and nothing to give. It's reminding me of who I am because I am God's. And I was fearfully and wonderfully made. It's reminding me that he invites me into his work.

[00:13:38] As it says, put on readiness given by the gospel of peace. It is reminding me to speak of who He is and what He has done and what He is doing. Not because of myself, but because of Him. In a conversation with my friend recently she said she needs to be reminded that it's not about you, but about what God can do with it. And I wanted to leave you with that. Friends, what you have to offer God, whether it feels very small, whether you feel paralyzed, what you have to offer him. It's not about you. It's not about the size of the gift, it's about what God can do with it.

[00:14:18] Will we be willing?

[00:14:20] If you are like me, and you feel paralyzed not knowing what step to take next, not knowing if what you have to offer is right or if you will do it good enough. Then I encourage you to look at the armor of God in Ephesians 6 and let your first offering back to the Lord be the time that it takes to read and to pray and to put on the armor of God.

[00:14:47] To gather the verses that you need to be reminded of as the truth that you put on of who you are, of what God is calling you to, of what God has done for you. That you would put on the breastplate of righteousness, knowing that Jesus took our sin and gave us his righteousness. That you would let the helmet of salvation protect your head.

[00:15:12] Protect your mind against the fears and the lies of the enemy, but you would be reminded that God has done the saving

[00:15:20] And that you would hold up the shield of faith. Being reminded that God has given us what we need. He has made us who we are. He is our provider and he is enough.

[00:15:34] That that would quench the flaming arrows, the lies of the enemy, and that you would be able to stand in faith,

[00:15:42] And the readiness to let God use the little that you have while you sit back and watch the great things that he can do with our little. 

[00:15:52] Dear God, I thank you for these friends. I thank you for this time, Lord, to think about

[00:15:59] Our fears, Lord. Fears of not having enough or being enough or doing it right, Lord. But being reminded that you will do great things with our little, Lord. Remind us that you can do great things, Lord.

[00:16:15] And that you invite us into the need. You invite us in to participate in the solution, God. Amen. You invite us to invest in our kids, in our families, in our churches. God, you invite us to speak your truth. You invite us to share who you are and what you have done in our lives. Lord, I pray that you give us confidence to take those steps, Lord, even though it feels like it might not be.

[00:16:45] very impactful in the place in front of us, Lord, but that we would be reminded you have given us so many blessings, and we want to offer them back to you with thankfulness and gratefulness that you have given us so much. And Lord, I think as we even think about spending some of the time that you have given us to just contemplate the armor of God that you have offered, Lord, us to protect our hearts and our minds, Lord, to draw us to you, God, I pray that you would help us to take that small step of obedience to offer that time to Think about your promises to strap on the belt of truth and the helmet of salvation and hold the shield of faith while we, also wield the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, Lord, and I pray that you would help us to do that.

[00:17:42] I pray, Lord, that we would look and expect the impact and the change that that. small offering to you can change our hearts and make us willing and able in other places to step out and offer other places our lives, Lord, to you and to others.

[00:18:01] I thank you for your mercy and your grace.

[00:18:04] Lord, please give us the strength and the time and the memory, Lord, that this idea would pop into our heads, Lord, and we would be reminded to look to you, God, to offer our time to you, that you would change us, show us the places that we can offer. Even more to you Lord show us the abundance that you have already offered us that may feel small to us Lord But that you can use and multiply And it is in Jesus name that I pray.

[00:18:34] Amen

[00:18:35] Friends thank you for joining me today if you are encouraged, please like subscribe and share with a friend If you want to connect with me, you can do that over at ErinMichelle. net. That's Michelle with one L. There you can find links to my socials, as well as sign up and receive my free gift, What's My Next Step? 

[00:18:53] It's a Bible journaling resource to help you look at places in your life where you could continue to be turning over trust to the God who is enough. I hope you join us back here next time. But until then, I wanted to leave you with this reminder from Ephesians 2 10, for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Friend, I'm praying for you as you keep on stepping. See you next time.