Last Sabbath I was impressed with the sermon thoughts that were presented. The title was “Lord, This is all that I have”. I had to ask for myself, Lord, this is all that I have for you, Is it enough for you? Are you like me, filling every week full doing various things that seem of small value. None seemed to count for much and certainly not much to get the Lord's attention. The Bible story of 5 loaves and 2 small fish got me to remembering my own 5 loaves and 2 small fish story. On that particular Friday I realized that the potluck for the next day and Sabbath lunch was going to be left up to me! It was during the time that I could not do many activities as walking had become so painful. I was needing and waiting for hip surgery. That made it impossible for me to attend a women's retreat, which was where many of the ladies in our church were attending. I was the one left behind and that meant I was going to need to provide the food for the normal Sabbath potluck. I counted how many I might need to provide for! One, two, three, four people! That shouldn't be such a hard task! I made what I thought was enough potato salad for four people and a cucumber salad and some fresh cherry tomatoes, and BBQ beans. My husband looked at what I set out to bring and expressed that he didn't think it would be enough food for four hungry people! I looked at him with a look that said, Well, I can't change it now! We have what we have!!! It will have to be enough!
Church went well that day! We were few but God was present. He invited and brought 2 more people to worship with us and make our meager attendance nearly double! We were glad to welcome a lady and her baby and another man. Both are frequent, almost regular attendees to our worship but not always expected every Sabbath. Near the end of church, I realized that I should invite them to have lunch with us after the sermon. Going to the basement fellowship room was not possible for me as it involved dreaded stairs. Eating a picnic lunch in the entryway might have been okay for 4 people but not for more. I invited them to share our small lunch and decided we would eat in the park next door to our church lot. Remember, my husband was pretty sure that I hadn't prepared enough food for 4 people, let alone extras! When I set out what food I had brought and looked around, I began to think that probably I hadn't prepared enough for 4 and for sure not enough for 2 more. It turned out that one of the guys had brought part of a loaf of bread, a small amount of dried beef and an almost empty jar of mayo! And those disappeared very rapidly! Large helpings of potato salad were enjoyed, everyone had all the beans and tomatoes and cucumbers they wanted! And I had leftovers to take back home!!! My husband's fears of not enough food were almost right but still,,,,,,we had food to take home, and I am positive that God provided for enough food for all when there really was not. I did not see the potato salad grow and increase but somehow it did! We had our very own miracle. "Lord, this is all I have!" And He made it be enough. My small effort was increased to what was needed. Lesson to be learned, if we do our part willingly and ask God to bless, He can take my small part and use it in a far bigger way than I expect.
Current daily and week's events have given me much to think about. There have been several recent tragic airplane crashes. People lost lives. Were they ready for that unplanned event in their lives? People in our government and local TV news people have lost jobs. I am sure that they weren't ready for that to happen. We are glad for surgeons that help us repair our bodies. Sometimes we have time to prepare for upcoming surgeries, sometimes the decision for surgery need is sudden and the patient and family are not prepared. Often there is a good outcome but other times no matter how good the surgeon, there is nothing that can be done and a life ends. Was the person ready to die? Few would say that they are ready to die right now. Weather people try hard to make us aware of storms coming. They tell us of the need to be ready for snow, extreme cold or heat, be ready for possible tornadoes or floods. The warning of snow and extreme cold makes us get ready—put the car in the garage, get enough wood and pellets brought to the house so that we can keep warm through the duration of the cold and snow. Last week I was asked if I could help with a Sabbath evening project. I needed to prepare haystack beans for 30 people! That's a lot of beans to cook. I couldn't just wait until it was nearly time to eat to fix them. I had to prepare ahead so that when it was time to eat, no one would ask me "Are you ready?" My pot of beans was all that I had fixed for that meal. I wanted to ask, "Lord, this is all I have. Is it enough?" That same evening a group of kids wanted to earn the Rock and Mineral honor and I was asked to help—help with types of rock, help with rocks that would be found in the foundation of the walls of the Holy City. I prepared rocks that would be the beginnings of a rock collection for each child. I prepared things to say. I prepared for showing how interesting rocks can be. But I wondered, "Lord, this information is such a little bit, but it is all I have. Is it enough?"
Trying to See God Every day in everything can sometimes give me a challenge. Sometimes I can't see Him in the happening until much later. Recently, a fire truck with sirens sounding rushed by our house. It was a note of interest to us in that the previous owner had often called for fire trucks and ambulances, but he has recently passed away. It seemed like our new neighbors would be like him. Later, we saw 2 fire trucks, a first responder truck and an ambulance all leave. It wasn't until we were on our way to church and drove past the house that we could see just how dangerous this situation had been. It looked like a fire had started in the back of the house and burned the dry grass all around the house and into the front yard. Somehow the house was not damaged. But what a close call for them. I am sure that they were thankful that there was a fire station nearby prepared to come and put out the fire. The homeowners did not have to ask, "Are you ready to come and help us in our time of need?" Rescue people are trained to be prepared—READY!
Getting ready, being ready are so important in my life. They make a difference in how I live. They are part of—"Lord, This is all I have to show for You. This is what I have done to get ready Lord, Lord, is it enough." Are you ready? Am I ready? The words of a wonderful hymn, Are You Ready for Jesus to Come? by Sandra Enterman, asks those same questions--
The theme of the Bible is Jesus and how He died to save men
The plan of salvation assures us He's coming back again
Are you ready for Jesus to come? Are you faithful in all that you do?
Have you fought a good fight? Have you stood for the right?
Have others seen Jesus in you? Are you ready to stand in your place?
Are you ready to look in His face? Can you look up and say, "This is My Lord!"
Are you ready for Jesus to come?
Don't cling to the world and its treasure This earth will soon pass away
Oh, give Him your love without measure, He's calling you today!
Are you ready for Jesus to come? Are you faithful in all that you do?
Do you fight a good fight? Do you stand for the right?
Do others see Jesus in you? Are you ready to stand in your place?
Are you ready to look in His face? Can you look up and say, "This is My Lord!"
Are you ready for Jesus to come?
This is the question that Matthew recorded for us to think about in chapter 24—
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Am I ready? This is all I have done to get ready, but will it be enough?
In our house we have an old porch that was enclosed so now we have a room that we call our sunroom. And it is also where we placed an exercise machine for me to use to get in my daily “step” goal. With the other things I want in this little room there is not much room left. I also have some shelves that have plants on them. These plants spend the summer outside on our patio where God waters them, or we can water them easier. They are interesting to insects, the wind blows on them, lawn clippings from mowing land on them, sometimes they don’t receive water when they should have it, and I fear for their survival. Then in the fall, I bring them back indoors. All winter they mostly survive but do not grow very much. Recently I noticed that there is new growth. Not so much growth of the house plants but new little plants have started to grow! New little plants that are starting to grow from weed seeds that landed in various plants during the summer. The little seeds lay there invisible until this week. They weren’t ready before, the time for growth was not yet. But now the daylight hours are lengthening. There is no need to ask them if they are ready to grow? They are showing me, they are READY!
When the time is right, Jesus will be READY to come back to this world. I will stand before Him and ask, “Lord, this is all I have, is it enough?
Peter told us about being ready and how to get ready for the last days. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
2 Peter 3:10-14
I want to be ready! All that God asks of me is that I give Him my heart. It will be enough. It is all that I need to present to Him.