The Unseen Supply
June 2012
Not by might, not by power but by My Spirit says the Lord – Zech 4:6
2 pennies.
That’s all my son had in his pudgy hands when they emerged from his pant pockets. He’d found the shiny copper coins in between the cushions on the sofa and then gleefully stuffed them into his pants for safe-keeping.
So, when we went to the local dollar store later that afternoon, he felt prepared. Problem is, two cents doesn’t buy much of anything these days – even at the dollar store. Gone are the days of tiny candies and trinkets priced 2 for a penny; back when a stamp cost a dime and milk ran you just over a dollar. These days, much more is required. The needs your household demands and the baubles your heart desires each call for deeper pockets then they used to.
But my three year old didn’t have any more than what his little hands now held. The price tag hanging off of the toy he’d laid eyes on was clear: $1.00; a bit more after tax. He’d need at least ninety-eight more cents for it to be able to go home with him.
I saw his disappointment as he looked at the tag and then down into his sweaty palms. The math department in his brain added and subtracted as best it could to make them equal but no amount of arithmetic could do the trick. Soon the reality of his deficit settled into his heart and tears stung his eyes.
You know the feeling of not having enough, don’t you?
. . .enough time
. . .enough energy
. . .enough patience
. . .enough talent
. . .enough passion
. . .enough money
. . .enough skill
We’ve all felt the pain of staring at a task that seemed to require much more then we could ever feel prepared to give.
My heart broke for my son Jude as I watched his countenance fall into a puddle of disappointment that was as deep as it was wide. I wiped a tear from his rosy cheek and squatted down to his level so that we were eye to eye.
He had no reason to cry; no reason to feel insufficient. He might have only had two pennies but those were not the extent of his resources. There was an unseen supply ready and waiting to be dispensed.
I pulled out a dollar bill from my wallet and passed it over to him. His frown reversed its position and swallowed his entire face in a wide smile.
This money was his . . . because he was mine.
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You have enough. Hear me loud and clear: YOU HAVE ENOUGH.
To parent your child.
. . .To be successful on your job.
. . .To teach the Bible study.
. . .To be committed to your marriage.
. . .To start the ministry.
. . .To fulfill God’s purpose for your life.
. . .to do exactly what you think you are ill-equipped to handle right now – just like my son Jude did as he sat in a unwarranted hopeless pool of despair on aisle B.
His gloom was unwarranted not because of what was at his disposal . . . but what was at mine. He didn’t have enough in his pocket to secure the toy, but I did. As his mother not only were my resources available but they were ready and waiting to be shared.
Unseen . . . . but available to make up the difference.
In Luke 9, the disciples were met with a vast, famished crowd for which their meager handful of snacks seemed terribly insufficient. Five loaves of bread and 2 measly sardines couldn’t even begin to satisfy one family much less the thousands gathered on the lawn at the outskirts of town. Offering the masses these measly samples would be like hanging a single, solitary carrot in front of a starving lion – the beast would now be hungry and angry.
But this was all the disciples had . . . .
Or was it?
Just before the disciples’ encounter with the crowd, they’d had another one from which they’d returned with gifts that they’d all but forgotten about.
Luke 9:1 – . . .and [Jesus] called the disciples and gave them power and authority. . .
Bread and fish were all they could see but it was certainly not all that they had. There might have only been bread and fish in their hands but there was also an unseen supply in their hearts. It was harbored beneath the surface; nestled in the very depths of their own souls.
They were in relationship with a Man who had invested in them a rich, well spring of resources from which they could continually draw. They now had an inner potential, that would empower them with a lavish spiritual strength, and an authority that would grant them the clout they needed to access the supply within them . . .anytime. . anyplace. . anywhere.
Like. . . here.
In front of this crowd.
Facing these demands
Not because of what they could see but because of all the things they couldn’t see that had been given to them by Jesus the Christ.
You, friend, have the same – a spiritual power that enables you to live beyond your own capacity and the authority to tap into that internal strength whenever the need arises. It works anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
Even. . .here in the midst of what you are facing right now on this very day.
It’s the unseen supply of the Savior that gives you more than what you need every single time you need it.
And is all yours. . . because you are His.
