Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? John 6:9   God is in the business of using everyday people with everyday skills and resources to do incredible things. Elijah had a coat, and when he wanted to cross a river, he hit the river with that coat and the river parted. When Peter needed to pay his taxes, what did Jesus send him to do? Since he was a fisherman, Jesus told him to go fishing! The first fish he caught had a gold coin in its mouth, which covered his taxes. When the crowds who were listening to Jesus were hungry, a little boy had a couple of fish …

Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:40   God wants to use what’s in your hand. Yesterday we talked about Moses, and about how God used what was in his hand (his skills and experience) to bring about the miraculous. But Moses isn’t the only biblical example of this principle. When David challenged Goliath, God empowered him to use the sling that was in his hand to take down the Philistine army. King Saul tried to give David his armour and weapon, but David didn’t need to try to be someone else to win. He …

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” Exodus 4:2   The key to your future often lies with what’s already in your hands. When God spoke to Moses from a burning bush, he presented him with an opportunity. At first, it was overwhelming to Moses. God was asking Moses to approach the Pharaoh to demand that he let the Israelites go. At first, Moses couldn’t fathom how this was going to work. He asked God what he should do if no one listened to him, a lowly shepherd who had spent the last 40 years of his life leading nothing but sheep on the back side of the desert. And what did God say in response? “What is that in …