YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES!!

In our journey with God, it is okay to face trials and temptations, but we always have to remember that it only last a night and joy comes in the morning. Trials are not meant to kill us but to make us stronger in Him, because the word says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” Most of us today seek for outside help because we haven’t understood the tools we have in our hands. God has given us powers and resources to overcome anything but a lot of us are still blinded or don’t know what we possess. In many instances, when we pray, we have to understand that, God is not going to create an answer out of what we don’t already possess in our hands. The scriptures shows us many occasions which God used the resources the people had or owned to help them out of situations;

• When God asked Moses to go deliver the children of Israel, Moses was afraid and said how can he do that, then God asked him, what is in your hands? Moses had a rod in his hand, which was used during his ministration. (Exodus 4:1-9).
• When the children of Israel were been oppressed by the Philistines, David used his sling and stones to put down Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:1-57).
• When a widow whose husband had been the servant of the Lord came to Elisha crying about the creditors of her husband been after her to pay what they owed, Elisha asked her what she had at home, and she said oil, which the Lord increased to sell and pay her debts. (2 King 4:1-7).

All these are example of how God used what we already have to help us. Many of us possess so many talents or natural resources but we don’t know how to use them. Jesus brought grace to use, creating a bridge between us and God, so that we no longer have to seek for help outside. The bible tells us that He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4), but we have failed to recognize the Holy Spirit who lives in us. We have failed to feed our Spirit man so that He can begin to help us use the tools we have already in our hands.  As believers, we already have the authority, because John 3:35 says: “The Father loved the son and placed everything in his hands.” 1 Timothy 4:14 encourages that “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.” Therefore we need to begin to stir up our gifts, resources and our Spirit man in-order to gain advantage over those things we face. “It is God who is at work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians. 2:13,14). In order to be more like Jesus Christ we need to allow the Lord to motivate us and enable us to do the things that are humanly impossible through the work of our hands.

When they came to take Jesus captive, the first thing they did was to bind his hands.  Why? Because His hands possess so much power which had healed the sick, raised the dead, open blind eyes, made the lame to walk, open deaf ears, and ultimately, His hands possessed the resurrection power of which we also possess today as followers of Christ. The scriptures makes us understand that as Jesus was in this world, we will be and more; therefore, what He possessed in his hands, we got double. John 14:12-13 says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” 

Today I want to encourage us to understand the powers our hands possess. Many of the struggles we face can be wiped off with one touch from our own hand of faith. The solutions are in your hands. One way to begin is to understand that your hand is God’s hand, according to Proverbs 3:27 which in the Message Bible says: “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person.” Look at your innermost self, and ask yourself, what are those things you can use to fix the situation you face? If you look deep, you will see that you already have what it takes to proffer a solution. Believe in yourself like David, have Faith in God like Abraham, and walk with the Holy Spirit like Jesus Christ, then you will never fail.

Annie AB