11/10/2017
Do you look back at your life of faith with regret? Do you look down and feel like a failure because you weren’t a Billy Graham, or made some great theological impact? This happens to pastors, missionaries, and church workers, quite often. How about those of us who are lay people, everyday Christians, and parishioners? Do you think that you have let Jesus down because you weren’t able to contribute a huge amount of money to the church, sit on the board, or head up a committee? Well stop right there!!
What is it about any of the things we accomplish in life that so impresses God? Are the things that Billy Graham achieved the result of his exceptional intellect? The answer to the first question is that our God, who spoke the universe into existence, isn’t impressed a bit with anything we could do for Him! As for Billy Graham? Well, he would be the first to tell you that if it weren’t for God in his life, he would still be working on his family’s dairy farm in North Carolina.
Great things happen when God uses us for His purposes... but when we attempt to use God for ours, or claim His glory in our lives the results can be damning. Quite often we can’t even see the extent to which we please and glorify the Lord. God can put something as unlikely as the jawbone of an ass in our hands and use it mightily, but without God’s presence... well the results would be quite different.
“And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.”
Judges 15:15 KJV
For those of you that are relatively new to my devotionals, I had a near death experience as a teenager, and almost succumbed to drowning. Following that occurrence I would frequently ask myself why God had chosen to let me live that day. I didn’t see any huge act of faith on the horizon that would make me worth His effort, and as a matter of fact I struggled to keep my faith through some pretty rough times... but somehow, with His aid, I managed.
What I finally realized was that it wasn’t for the glorification of Rich Forbes that I had been saved, but for God’s will, and His glory! I was never going to be a Moses, a Martin Luther, or a Billy Graham, but in God’s plan I would be just as important. Scripture reminds us that the last shall be first.
I consoled myself by thinking that maybe I was meant to successfully witness to just one person in my entire life. I knew that the soul of just one individual was worth all the gold in Fort Knox! So I was happy, and satisfied, with being selected for that singular service to God. Then, years later, something amazing happened.
I met a young IBM salesman who had a remarkable faith, and one afternoon during a sales call he gave me a small brown devotional titled “The Power of Prayer” that had caught his eye at a Publix grocery store while he waited on his wife to finish her shopping. I let it sit on the mantle near my prayer chair for a few weeks until one Saturday morning I finished the “important” book I was reading, and just happened to notice it laying there. I opened it to the current day, and the message raised every hair on my body... it was wonderful. So I sent a text message of my thoughts to my friend, and he responded with his thoughts. The next day was a repeat of the day before, and as one thing led to another I found that I was writing a daily devotional that was being shared and read around the world... and you are reading it now.
“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”
Matthew 13:31-32 KJV
None of this was of my doing. To a non- Christian this would seem like a string of happy coincidences, but it wasn’t. Even in writing each day I sometimes couldn’t hear God’s voice. When this happens I pray a simple prayer... “Lord, I don’t know what you want me to write, can you just give me one word? Can you give me one word Father?” Then the one word comes and when I key it into my iPhone a download from the Lord begins and the devotional for that day becomes a reality.
That’s right... every morning in the predawn hours it comes down to one word, one finger, and one little iPhone. God doesn’t need much in order to work amazingly huge wonders... a couple of fish; a few loaves of bread... one good friend, or one trembling and obedient finger.
So what is it in your life? What is that one word, or one thing that God has prepared for you that is of great value to him? Is it simply obedience? Perhaps He asks you to perform miniature acts of mercy, or exhibit tiny bursts of grace? Whatever it is, He will work in you that one thing which will glorify Him. Listen again to the hopeless words of a disciple, and see the work that was done, in this parable...
“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”
John 6:9 KJV
“And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.”
John 6:11 KJV
So, we should never judge God’s ability because it isn’t bound by the laws of nature. He can take the least among us and multiply our ability to feed the world, save a generation, or save just one soul, and He can even send His Word around the world with the tap of a single shaking finger.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the great value you draw from the least of our human expectations. I thank you for achieving great value from those things in which we place so little. You see the true value in the least of us, and work some of your greatest miracles in the most unexpected lives, and ways. Holy Father, never let me deem myself lacking when I am doing your will. I might be considered the least by my fellow man, but in heaven my name is honored for my obedience, and dedication to your will. There is no task that is insignificant, or work that is worthless if you have asked me to perform it. There will be many that gain their reward here on earth, but the greatest treasure and reward rests in you, and awaits us in your kingdom. Open my eyes Father so that I can see what you see, and find value in those same things you find of value. Don’t let me doubt the worth of your will, or covet the tasks you have given others... let my best effort go into the smallest of your requests, and give me great joy as I serve you. Holy art thou Father, and great is your name.
Rich Forbes