When I was a teenager, I was part of a scouting program at our church. We were given a motto to live by. It said, “Ready. Ready for anything. Ready to work, play, serve, worship, live and obey God’s Word.” In repeating it weekly and learning to live by it, I realized that being ready was more about my availability to God’s plan more than my capacity. So many times we look at our capacity to accomplish God’s plan rather than our availability to it. We tend to focus on our abilities and disqualify ourselves from what God is asking us to do, but God works through people who make themselves available to Him.
In Matthew 14 a large crowd had followed Jesus to hear His teaching. At the end of the day, the disciples asked Jesus to send them away so they could go into the villages and buy food. Then Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them” (NLT). The disciples panicked because they were looking at their capacity to feed 5,000. However, there was a boy who was available with what he had and offered five loaves and two fish. Jesus blessed it and asked the disciples to distribute it to the people. Then He had them go with baskets to pick up the leftovers. There were 12 baskets full of food. Jesus was teaching each disciple that when they offer their availability rather than their capacity, He can do above and beyond so they could ask or imagine.
Isaiah shows us the heart that God is looking for. In Isaiah 6:8 he wrote, “Then I heard the Lord asking, ‘Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?’ I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’” God is still looking for someone He can send to minister to people. Like Isaiah, each of us should be ready and available to raise our hand saying, “Here am I. Send me.” You don’t have to have all the resources, answers or abilities in the moment. You simply have to place what you have into His hands. What God can do through you has more to do with your availability than your ability. Are you ready?
Photo by Yash Prajapati on Unsplash
