Don’t Belittle Your Gift

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20

Next time you see a big oak tree, remind yourself that it began as a tiny acorn. What you have to offer today may seem small, but when God blesses it, it can grow. In 1912, Dr. Russell Conwell, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, told about a Sunday school student named Hattie May Wiatt. Because of overcrowding, Dr. Conwell had told Hattie May he would love to have buildings large enough for everyone to attend. When Hattie May became ill and died, Conwell was asked to preach at her funeral. The girl’s mother told him Hattie May had been saving her money to help build a bigger church. Hattie’s purse contained coins amounting to fifty-seven cents. Conwell exchanged them for fifty-seven pennies, which he put on display and ‘sold’. With the proceeds, a nearby house was purchased for a children’s wing for the church. Inspired by Hattie’s story, more money came in, and out of her fifty-seven cents eventually came the buildings of Temple Baptist Church, Temple University, and Good Samaritan Hospital. Perhaps you feel your gifts, your time, your talents, and your efforts are too small to make a difference. But when you give them completely to God and ask Him to bless them, you discover that He’s both a great mathematician and a great multiplier. He can take your words, your endeavors, and your resources and multiply them beyond anything you can imagine. ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us’ (v. 20).

Prayer
Heavenly Father, your use of math is much more advanced than mine! Take what You have provided for me and use it for Your big picture. In Jesus’ Name, Amen