Use What You Have

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.
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The television show, MacGyver, aired on ABC from 1985 until 1992. It was a very popular and entertaining show. The star of the show was not your run of the mill hero. He could take ordinary things and convert them into extraordinary tools, gadgets and weapons. He needed this ability since he seemed to always find a way to get into a fix.

To say that MacGyver was resourceful would be a tremendous understatement. He could convert a rope and umbrella into a grappling hook to scale a building. He could hot wire a car with a paper clip and create smoke screens with ordinary household cleaning supplies.

What this character represented was resourcefulness. With a seemingly calm and methodical demeanor he would assess his predicament, inventory his options and then set about to get his solution in place. In the end, you might say that he made do with what he had.

We usually can do what we really want to do. If your desire is strong enough you can find usefulness in just about any thing around you. And even though we aren’t saving the world from criminals like MacGyver, when we do succeed in making something out of nothing we do have a great sense of accomplishment.

Throughout the Bible God has demonstrated that we can accomplish His will with the resources we already have. Notice these examples of how God’s work was done.

In Exodus 4:1-5 Moses is unsure about his ability to convince Pharaoh to set the people free. Here is how God convinced Moses to use what he had.

Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), “that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

As we learn to trust God we can begin to understand how everything around us can be used for His purposes. Moses used what he had—just a rod in his hand. And with it he was able to confirm that he was God’s messenger.

Another example would be David in 1 Samuel 17:32-51. This is the story of the battle with the giant, Goliath. David was unable to wear the armor of Saul so he put that aside and instead reached down for a few smooth stones. When the time came to face the older, more experienced warrior, David began to run toward him and slew him with a stone from his sling.

Saul’s entire army feared this opponent. Yet David already had experiences where God had delivered him. He was able to kill a lion and a bear as he defended his father’s sheep. He knew that God would also deliver him this time, especially since the honor of God’s people was at stake. He used what he had—a sling and some stones, and he accomplished God’s will.

Andrew also had an experience with making do with what was available. In the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6:5-14, Jesus asked a question as to how they would be able to feed this many people. Philip, knowing that their financial resources were low, noted that even a year’s wages were not enough to buy for this many people.

But it was Andrew that looked around for the resources available. In John 6:9 he says, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

He received his answer when Jesus fed those 5,000 men. They ate their fill and still there were twelve baskets of fragments that were taken up afterwards. Andrew learned that God will supply our needs through what we have.

Isn’t it wonderful to trust in a loving God that wants us to succeed?

On Our Daily Walk today, may we learn to put our trust and confidence in God and learn to use every available resource to accomplish what He asks us to do. May we never allow fear or shortsightedness to get in our way of making do with what we have.

Our thought for the day: “Most of us will never do great things, but we can do small things in a great way.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.