And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets…

Hebrews 11:32 (NIV)

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Judges 6:14 (NIV)

“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

Luke 19:26 (NIV)

Faith is a strange thing. Sometimes what little you have needs to be taken away so that faith can grow. Sometimes, using the faith you have results in you getting more. Sometimes, not using the little you have leads to you losing even that!

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Unless you are one of those always-supremely-confidant people you must have done it…God says, “I have a wonderful plan for your life”, and your response is, “Here I am-send someone else…please! I’m not ready, I don’t have what it takes, I’m not well connected enough, my faith is not what it could be…the reasons go on and on. At the root of it all, you sniff personal failure, and you don’t want to look foolish.

And God simply says, “No, you’re the one, even with all your defects. Go in the strength you have…”

And so, you go.

Things seem to be going well. The work is growing. People are flocking to help. It looks as if you really can do it. You feel good about yourself. God was right…you have got what it takes.

Then God interrupts. “You have a problem that needs fixing. So, I’m going to fix it. I’m going to cut your workers down to a handful. I’m going to severely reduce your budgets. But…the task won’t get any smaller.”

And it comes to pass.

Somehow you plough on. God has told you to do it, so you do. Things go better than you could have hoped. Despite the lack of resources, you succeed in doing what God has asked.

One day, you wake up and realise that you’ve changed. You no longer feel inadequate and worthless. You also realise that since God said he’d “Fix” your problem you’ve been praying more than you ever have in your life before. Every decision, every step has been bathed in prayer. And God has been faithful. It dawns on you that it’s never been about you…your abilities, your strength. It’s been about your ability to simply trust God…to trust that he wanted it to happen more than you could have imagined.

So, using what little faith you have is important… and so is who you have faith in.

The job is done…and you are changed too.