[Applause] [Music] Wow listen don't take your seat yet send back a summary cuz I want to pray over you'll want us to all stand together in the presence of God why pray over you this Saturday morning and I wanted to just tell you before we pray that the last time I was with you at least four pink impact I've been I sneaked into Gateway all the time I sneaked into her telephone but the last time I was with you think impact we were over at the Fort Worth Convention Center and I had gotten a doctor's report several weeks prior that they saw a mass on my lungs and I was waiting for a phone call that day because I had gotten the x-ray done again or the CT scan done again in hopes that it had diminished so the phone rang in between sessions at pink impact and they called and said my doctor with her very calming but very concerned voice to say that that mass had not shrunk at all and I was still there and I remember feeling this paralyzing feeling like are you are you serious like you just expect them to say oh it wasn't that you know no big deal so that mass is still there and I want you to know that the fact that I got that call while I was with you made all the difference because there is a protective covering there is a sense of truth and hope that resonates in this house and that resonates in this gathering that made me so crate that's the Lord Debbie that I got to be in this place when I got that I told Jim Greenwood that that day and Jan Greenwood laid her hands on me and prayed the fire of God's Spirit down on me praise the Lord in the weeks that followed they discovered that it was benign that it's just scar tissue that settled there but I want you to know that that uncertainty that I had in that moment what I came back into the session and I heard with that uncertainty after that phone call not knowing what in the world my life would be like in those next weeks and months coming back into the session and hearing the truth of God and being amongst the people of God and feeling his love and his hope emanating from the worship and the word listen the reason why you were in this place today if you've got some uncertainty and a phone call you've just gotten a betrayal that's just happened a broken heart that has just kind of become become a part of your reality because of a kid a child of yours that struggling or a spouse or a friend or a phone call you just got them a doctor I'm saying the reason why you're in this house in this uncertain time in your life it's because your God wants you to know he loves you he is for you and no matter what there was so far he has got your back and amen and for Lord right now and she's the same I bring to you every single dollar that is under the sound of my voice both in this room and on the other side of the screen and I pray right now in Jesus name that whatever the uncertainty is you would cover it by the blood of Jesus lord I pray that you would infuse hope where there is no hope that you would infuse Lord your love where there is a feeling of being unloved or forgotten Lauren where there is no hope I pray that you would bring hope and fill in hope in the hearts of your women where there is discouragement I pray that you would lift discouragement off of somebody's life and that you would replace it with your courage in Jesus name lord I pray that if there is any assignment of the enemy that that assignment would be canceled in the name of Jesus and by his word that has been shed on Calvary we're in the house today for pink impact because we are believing that you have sent us here for these days for your purposes so that we can leave different than when we first started Father we believe you we trust you with our lives and now we come to you on this Saturday morning over your word fully anticipating that you've got a specific word for every single person that is in the room and beyond we are your servants and we are listening speak Lord speak to your people in Jesus name all God's women agreed when they said amen Thank You amen take your seats y'all stop cryin y'all get y'all selves together so in the 1980s there was this this movie that really took the entire world by storm everybody was talking about this movie everybody enjoyed it and loved it so much and it sort of just kind of went on the ripple effect of it went on for a while so much so that 20 25 years later they made a remake of this film the name of the film was the Karate Kid I'm sure you saw at least the remake in 2010 I said to my boys recently guys have y'all seen the Karate Kid and they were like yeah you know what Will Smith sir and I was like that one was good too but the original version you got to see the original version and as I look out at least if those of you that are gathered in this room with me as I look at it occurs to me that many of you weren't even born in the 1980s I'm so troubled right now but it was about 1985 or so when the original Karate Kid came out Daniel son do you remember Daniel son is being terrorized by some bullies that are at his school and/or in his neighborhood and he's just trying his best to deal with him them but he's not able to on his own so he finds a sensei of sorts mr. Miyagi and he goes to mr. Miyagi and he says mr. Miyagi listen I need you to train me in the art of karate so that I am able to stand firm against this enemy because they are really running me over and I need some tactics can you please help me with this and so mr. Miyagi is a little bit reluctant a little bit hesitant but finally he says yes I will take you on as a student so Daniel is very excited he leaves that night after getting the yes from mr. Miyagi he comes back the next day ready to learn the art of karate instead mr. Miyagi hands him to wash rags and says to him wax the cars wax on and wax off and he takes them to this lot there's not one or two cars in the lot it is filled to capacity and he says wax all the cars and Daniel gets started he you know figures he'd do the old man a favor for a little while before they get started in the real reason why he's coming so he waxes on and waxes off at any time he gets sloppy along the way a mr. Miyagi shows up and says uh uh don't do it that way Daniel son wax on and wax off so the day turns into evening time he's finally finished every car in the lot he goes home coming back the next day fully expecting and anticipating that today is the day that I'm a learn some actual karate instead mr. Miyagi puts a paint can in one hand a paintbrush in the other and he takes them to a wooden fence line that's surrounding a patio and he says I want you to paint the fence paint the fence and I don't want you to just do it any old kind of sloppy way no I actually want you to paint it exactly like I've asked you to paint it and so he paints the short little distance that exists between the beginning of the fence line and some brush some trees that are there any thinks he's done and he says I got it done mr. Miyagi and mr. Miyagi says Daniel spent the whole fence paint the fence and any time he gets sloppy along the way mr. Miyagi shows up and says uh uh Danielson do it exactly the way that I've asked you to do it he's frustrated now pretty irritated because this is not the reason why he came he didn't come to be his house manager he came to learn some actual karate he goes home that evening expecting that the next day will be the day that he actually learns what he came to learn instead mr. Miyagi hands me some sandpaper sets him down on a wooden deck and says sand the floor sand the floor and any time he gets sloppy along the way mr. Miyagi comes by shows him exactly again exactly how it is supposed to be done and says do it my way now Daniel son is completely irritated he cannot believe it basically for the past three four he has been a house manager a housekeeper for mr. Miyagi and he decides to give mr. Miyagi a piece of his mind and so he says to him you got to be kidding me this is not the reason why we agreed for me to show up every single day I can't believe you've got me doing all this random nonsensical stuff here around your house and as he's talking and expressing his irritation to mr. Miyagi mr. Miyagi begins out of nowhere to throw random punches and Danielson son instinctually begins to block every single punch that comes his way because in the training process he didn't realize that what to him seemed like a complete waste of time was actually preparing him for punches that the master knew would be coming his way I can only imagine that in the group this size both in this room and on the other side of the screen that there are so very many of us that are in seasons of our life where there are things that are happening paces that the Lord is putting us through things that he's asked us to do or ask us to be in this season of our life whether in marriage or in parenting or in ministry on our job and we try to figure out what in the world does this have to do with the big overarching plan God that I think that you have for my life could it be that the master knows that there are things coming your way that if you will handle appropriately and responsibly and with diligent what he's put in your hands to do today that it's actually setting you up to be victorious later on and so I was thinking about this in regards to areas of my life in areas of some some guy's life that we're gonna meet in the scriptures here in just a few minutes where there are things that either are tedious for us or even taxing for us they're waiting on us we're wondering why the Lord has us going through those things that maybe those things are actually the things that pressed us enough to produce the best out of our lives I see this happening in Luke chapter 9 do you have your Bible and you actually want to turn there with me if you actually still use the Bible with paper pages like I do or your iPhone your iPad any manner of i-ness just flip on over to Luke chapter 9 Luke chapter 9 is a very familiar story I'm gonna read several verses of Scripture to you and then we're just going to talk a little bit through this story because I think we're gonna find out how sometimes some of the most tedious or taxing portions of our life are God ordained and used to bring the best things out of us Luke chapter 9 verse 1 and 2 and then I'm gonna read the familiar part verses 10 through 17 it says and if he called somebody say he called Jesus called the twelve together and he gave somebody say he gave he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal diseases verse two says and he said somebody say he sent and he sent them out verse 10 says and when they returned to him they gave him an account of all that they had done and taking them with him he withdrew by himself to a city called Bethsaida but the multitudes they were aware of this so they followed Jesus and welcoming the multitude welcoming them he began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing all of those who were in need of healing verse 12 says and then the day began to decline and the twelve came to Jesus and said Jesus would you please send this multitude away they need to go and they need to go to the surrounding villages and countryside find some lodging get something to eat because you know Jesus right here we're in a very very desolate place but he said to them uh-uh you give him something to eat and they said come on Jesus you know we only have five loaves and two fish unless perhaps we go and buy more food for all these people the the author wants you to know there were about 5,000 men scholars say that doesn't include women and children there were probably 15,000 people there that day he said to the disciples have them reclined to eat in groups of about fifty each verse 15 says so they did that had them all recline he took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven he blessed them and then he broke them and then he kept giving them to the disciples to set before the multitude and they all ate and were satisfied and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up and there were twelve baskets full I know that many of you have heard this passage of Scripture before this there is familiar beautiful portion of scripture where Jesus has an encounter with a multitude that is hungry and that needs to be fed but I really believe that this miracle doesn't start when the people get hungry I think it starts really at the beginning of this chapter where we meet the twelve the disciples who are in close connection close fellowship with Jesus Christ like you and I have been in our lives but specifically over these the last few days when we're having a close up face-to-face encounter with Jesus these twelve are connected to Jesus in a very personal intimate way in these first two verses of Luke chapter 9 in fact this exact same story is told in another gospel the synoptic gospel which is Mark chapter six you don't have to turn there but I'll just tell you in mark chapter 6 when this story is told we get more flesh on the bones of this story I want to tell you that anytime you read the same story told in the synoptic Gospels that mean where there's synergy in the stories that are told in those Gospels and you see something that seems to be contradictory well we know that the Bible is completely inherent that means if there's something that has said that is a little different in one passage than in the other what that tells us is that there's some flesh there's some layers there's some texture that's gonna help us to get a handle on that story even better it's kind of like if somebody offers you a one layer chocolate cake you're gonna enjoy it but if somebody gives you an option between one layer and seven layers now I don't know about y'all but I'm gonna take the seven layer chocolate cake every single time that's because the more layers there are the more rich and full and delectable the experience really becomes right in mark chapter 6 we get a layer of chocolate cake it tells us that this is the time when the disciples came to Jesus and then he sent them in pairs do you remember that he sent them out two by two to the neighboring towns and the neighboring communities and the neighboring cities to perform miracles and to teach and to preach and to authenticate that Jesus was who he said he was and their ministry was so effective that lark chapter 6 tells us when they came back to Jesus they were completely depleted and completely tired and exhausted because they had given so much and they had expended so much in fact Jesus is the one who recognized their exhaustion because they had been completely spent in doing what it was that Jesus had come to them Jesus had asked them and assigned to them to do so they came back to Jesus they looked him in his face and gave an account for how they had handled the assignment on which they had been sent in fact the author in mark chapter 6 wants you to know they had been so busy they had not even had time to eat has anybody in the room ever been that busy I ain't never been that busy but these men were so busy they had not even eaten Jesus recognized their exhaustion they came to Jesus and they gave an account because they had handled the assignment that they had been given so fully and completely and with integrity if you don't mind I've got to just open up a parenthesis here before we get to the feeding of the 5,000 just open up a parenthesis here to make sure you don't miss the disciples handled the assignment that Jesus had given them with so much integrity that they were able to look Jesus in his eyes and give him an account for how they had handled that assignment do you all know that there is a time that is coming sooner than we think where we're going to see our Savior face to face and we're gonna have to give an account me and you for how we've handled the assignment that he sent us on whether it's being a mother or a wife or a single woman or a woman in ministry or in a corporate setting whatever assignment he's given you to do the day is coming y'all where we're gonna see our Savior look him in the face and have to give him an account and I don't know about you guys but when I give my Savior an account I'm looking for well done I want to hear my Savior self will say well done not because I've spent my days impressing people but because my rice has garnered the applause of heaven I remember my grandmother before she passed away she said to me Priscilla when I see him face to face I don't want to meet him with my head hung down I want to be able to lift my head up and look at him not an arrogance or in pride but but in integrity that I did to the best of my I finished my race I ran with integrity with the baton that he gave me as a wife as a mother in ministry on my job I did what it was that he had called me to do and the disciples they gave an account and so I just with with our little open parenthesis right here I just thought it would interesting to us for any of us who are in the room who want to make sure that we can give an account like these disciples did I thought it would be interesting to try to figure out if there was some sort of recipe for effective ministry that is in this passage somewhere and just to be clear every single one of us under the sound of my voice are in ministry if you are a believer in Jesus Christ you're in ministry it's the enemy that wants us to think you got to be standing on a platform with a microphone in your hand in order to be in ministry it is the enemy that has compelled us globally is the church to minimize or downgrade the gifts that happen to be behind closed doors and behind the scenes but the only reason why you and I could be in this building today is because there's somebody humble enough and yields it enough to come in here after we leave to clean up the floors and the seats and to make sure that we have a place to sit and receive what God has done doing in our lives the only reason we have this opportunity is because there are people behind those cameras behind the stage and taking care of our children in the sunday school to make sure that we have the privilege to be in this place may we never downplay those gifts those talents those ministries so whatever he's called you to do you ought to do it with all of your might because one day y'all we're gonna give an account I wanted to figure out what's the recipe for some effective ministry like these disciples had where they were completely spent and yielded and and desirous of looking at Jesus to give him an account of how they had handled their assignment y'all there is a recipe right here in verse 1 in verse 2 the recipe has three ingredients anybody interested in the recipe of effective ministry the very first ingredient in the recipe it says that he called them Jesus called them they did not call themselves to an assignment they heard the call of God God all of the deity and the holiness and the authority of God wrapped of humanity he made it so that humans could hear his voice and know what his assignment was for them do you know that because of God's Spirit you can hear and heed the calling of God for your life and when the disciples heard the call of God they did not ignore it they did not circumvent it they did not hope that someone else would fill in this assignment while they a pursuit bigger and better ambitions and gold they heeded the call of God the first ingredient of effective ministry is hearing and heeding the call of God for your life there is no ambition there is no personal aspiration that is more meaningful in your life than the call of God that's what you were made for do it to the glory of God don't let there be any fear any insecurity that keeps you from saying yes sir to the Codel of God on your life where your heart burns where there's fire shut up in your bones where you can't sit back because the Holy Spirit is poking and prodding and compelling and convicting you to go well go by the Spirit of God where you are called he will equip you for that calling the disciples y'all they were called Lord forgive us when we have called ourselves to tasks that were never meant for us Lord forgive us when we have walked down the lane that was actually somebody else's lane to walk down forgive us when we have tried to fill in shoes that were somebody else's shoes to fill and make us women who hear and heed and value the call of God on our lives but there's not just the first ingredient there's a second ingredient I love that before he sent them there's an ingredient right there in the middle it says he gave them power and authority in other words they could not go on their own skill or their own gifting or their own talents they had to rely on the the entrusted power and authority of God's Spirit given to them for the test because can I tell you the enemy hopes that we will go in our own power he hopes that we will go in our own skill our own gifting our own talent but if we want to pray for people and those prayers actually break yokes on people's lives if we want to sing a song and it do more than just impress people and garner a standing ovation if we want to speak or write the blog post or write the poem or the book and it actually changed and transformed the heart of people then we can't go in the natural we gotta go in the supernatural if he's called you would you know that he is also going to give you the power and authority to accomplish the task to which you have been sent Lord forgive us when we have gone in our own strength and our own power cuz y'all it's not by might and it is not by power it is by the Spirit of God and some trust in chariots other folks they trust in horses but not us we trust in the name of the Lord our God whatever he's called you to do I mean while you've been sitting here at this conference you've felt the unction the sparks of the Holy Spirit going off like wildfire in your soul you know what it is he's asking you to do whether it's to forgive someone or to ask for forgiveness or give that gift or to offer that song or to start that ministry whatever it is that he's called you to do know that he won't equip you with his power and his authority to accomplish the task so they were called they were equipped but there's a third of ingredient in the recipe it says that he sent them listen to me he's the one that did the sending just as important as your calling is that is as important as the timing in which that calling is actually out worked in your life resist the urge restrain yourself from sending yourself to an assignment that it is not yet time for if he has not yet sent you then restrain yourself from coming out of the protective covering of his developmental process too soon because if you give birth too soon to a calling it's not yet time for you won't abort the process you won't abort the character that he was trying to establish in you the fortification that he was trying to build in you the stuff you would need in order to stand study in the calling to which you have been assigned you will abort that process if you go too soon and listen if the spotlight that you may be craving hits you and you have no character the spotlight you are craving it will burn you to a crisp I so restrain yourself from going too soon into a calling that it is not yet time for these disciples they were called they were equipped and then they were sent by Jesus Christ and because this recipe was working in their life they were able to come back to him and say Lord we did what it was that you had asked us to do we finished the race we did to the best of our capacities not perfectly but at least intentionally and purposefully what you've asked us to do and I want to be able to look my Savior in the face don't you and say as a single woman or as a mother as a woman in ministry or a woman that is married to this particular man in this particular assignment that I did what it wasn't you asked me to do not perfectly but purposefully and by the Spirit of God and so when the disciples come back to Jesus with this report they're tired they are exhausted here's the deal Jesus sees them at their exhaustion and he does not rebuke them because they're tired he does not say go away from me take a nap get yourself together and then come back later when I can actually use you I have a word for anybody in the room and you're just plain old flat-out tired because God's assignment for you has been a little bit taxing this year you've been given everything you've got to that marriage or that ministry or that job you have been to the best of your ability parenting those toddlers or lord help us these teenagers or the adult children of yours have taken you a little bit of a ride you have been giving it everything you've got and this conference has met you a little bit tired the disciples know exactly how you feel and the great thing about our God is that he does not say to us you're too tired and exhausted for me to actually use you he doesn't say go away from me and get yourself together before you can come back and be useful to my purposes he says to us the exact same thing he said to the disciples he said to them come away with me in other words intimacy is the cure for your exhaustion intimacy with him is secure if you're tired today don't go away from him get close to him this is the time where you will find that nearness to the Savior rejuvenates in you everything that has been depleted by the assignment that you have been pouring yourself out for I took my boys Oh actually it's been almost two years now we went to Cape Town South Africa I had to speak there I knew a year in advance so we saved up all this money and planned and did everything we could because I thought who knows if I ever get to go back there in my life imma take these boys and so we planned as much as we could to get those boys there up until last year I was homeschooling the three boys we've been doing that for four or five years now so they could travel with us and be engaged in ministry with us and so I sort of planned school around the fact that I knew we were going to Cape Town so we studied the geography of Cape Town we were studying Nelson Mandela and apartheid and I had them look up different animal species from Cape Town we just sort of were gonna milk this thing for all it was worth then when we got there I you know I think they thought they were gonna be on vacation and just stay in the hotel room and swim and yeah I was like we're going to see every single thing there is to see in Cape Town so every morning I was that mother get up let's go and they were all like Oh mom we just want to stay here I was like oh we're not in Austin we didn't Cape Town let's go and one day you will rise up and call me blessed you better or I will spank you so on one of the days we went on a little Safari we drove two hours outside of Cape Town early in the morning we got into one of those little open jeeps with a learned very bubbly guide he was sitting at the front and and he took us around and a lot lots of tourists that were there we went around and saw lots of different animals that we had studied things that we don't see lots of times here in the States but we also saw herd of zebra and there's nothing particularly fascinating about that cuz we get we get to see that here but it was fascinating what the guide told us he said oh this is this is very interesting he pointed to the herd of zebra there was a little baby foal there a baby zebra and he pointed to it said this is the first time I'm seeing the baby back with the herd he said for about two three weeks now we have not laid eyes on the mom or the fault and he said the reason why is because when a mother gives birth to a baby she will take that baby away from the rest of the herd for quite some time we never know when they're coming back and he said here's the reason why he said you can't really tell by the naked human eye but really the configuration of stripes on every single zebra is as unique and distinct as fingerprints of human beings so you can't really see it but particularly the configuration right in the center of their forehead is their fingerprint it's unique to every single zebra so when a new baby is born the mother will take that baby aside and away for a little while so that there will be so much intimacy and closeness and fellowship and singularity in their focus that that baby will become completely familiarized with the configuration of stripes on his mom's ahead so that when they come back to the herd there will never be any trouble in distinguishing for that baby which one of these diva is actually the one who loves me most and it's the intimacy and the closeness and the awareness of that baby with the mom makes that possible this is why when you are most fledgling most vulnerable most weak most tired it's not the time to go away from him it's the time to get close and study his stripes because let me tell you it's by his stripes that you are healed intimacy is the cure for your exhaustion that's why these few days that you have set aside that you have sown this seed into the spiritual fabric of your life this is why this seed is gonna reap a harvest that's gonna transform this next season of your life this is why he has set us aside at pink impact where he's basically taking us on a date for a few hours this weekend where he's whispered sweet things in our ears where he's remind us that we're loved where we've studied his stripes where we worshiped him and spirited in truth where we've opened up the Word of God and let him speak over our lives of this kind of seed always reaps an incredible harvest so the disciples are taken away with Jesus jesus knows that they need to be refreshed they need to be rejuvenated that's the whole reason why he's taking them away in the first place he says let's go away on a little retreat on a vacation y'all need to be refueled so he takes them across the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee to a little patch of stony ground that is right outside of a town called Bethsaida and when they get there there are 15,000 hungry people waiting on them Jesus in his sovereignty knew before they got there when he was taking the twelve on their retreat to be refreshed he knew before they arrived that there would be a circumstance there that would not just be tedious but would be so taxing would place a demand on them would be something that they would not understand that they wouldn't be able to figure out what this has to do with the purpose which which he brought them for in their estimation he knew that those 15 thousand would be there which means that the feeding of the 5,000 is not just about the multitude it's about the 12 what it tells us is that Jesus had the twelve on his mind when they came face-to-face with the multitude not just the hunger that the multitude represented what it tells us is that the five loaves and the two fish are the gift to the multitude but that in some way this multitude is the gift to the disciples there's something about the weight of the multitude that is going to bring something out of the disciples that the master knows is important and critical for them being exactly who he is called and commissioned them to be so I think I've told you this before man I tell you again so my boys my oldest two are in their teenage years now I keep a journal for each one of my boys I went to Ross just for less right there in the back corner they've got this little rack of journals so I bought them about ten years ago now 399 apiece somebody say hallelujah and I write in these journals for the boys not not every day not even every week or every month honestly just a couple of times a year when I see something happening in their life that's interesting or they say something funny I don't want to forget or something happens in school and I want to keep a record of it but at least once a year on their birthday I make sure to write something because my plan is you know one day to hand it over to him and say you know this these are my thoughts for you these are the things I want you to know or better yet I'm just gonna give it to their wives and see it say this is have fun with that so because my oldest son is headed toward his 16th birthday I was looking back at his book I started this when he was 5 so I was looking back at 5 years old 5 years old was when he lost his first tooth I wrote that down I wrote it down because that's been my son Jackson who's never needed a lot of sleep always has gone to bed late woken up early seems to work for him not me but him but that night he went to bed early he could not wait to go to bed I have never seen that boy eager to go to bed but that night he could he dove into bed at 7:30 he could not wait to lay his head down on the pillow because we had told him if he put his tooth under a pillow at the Tooth Fairy was coming he had been trying to make that to come out as much as he possibly could he finally went finally loosened enough and fell out he's Dovan to bed that night put it under the pillow he tried to go to sleep every two seconds or so he was waking up to see if anything had happened underneath the pillow finally he fell asleep and I remember that it was about 3 a.m. in the morning or so that I felt stirring beside me as the 6 foot to 250 pound Tooth Fairy that I sleep next to every night got up went upstairs and replaced the tooth for a treasure in the morning I knew when Jackson got up and at the time his three-year-old brother JC I knew when they were up because they were so excited to see there was someone the pill I heard the stomping on the ground I heard little cheers I heard excitement I heard them bound down the stairs into our bedroom my boy ran in with two fists clenched closed and said mom the Tooth Fairy came she brought me a treasure he opened up one hand and there was a package of gummy bears there which was a big deal because that was his favorite snack at the time he opened up his other hand and there was $5.00 exactly [Applause] ain't nobody got time for that anybody in here grew up in the days of dimes and quarter like a quarter was a big deal so I was trying to be excited but really it was annoyed I'm trying to smile but it's through clenched teeth because I could not believe this boy got $5.00 in his hair and my husband could read the body language he could tell that I was a little uneasy about this whole five-dollar Tooth Fairy business of his so after Jackson left the room my husband said to me don't worry Priscilla he said do you remember that last month which at the time would have been a November which is Jackson's birthday he said do you remember that last month was Jackson's fifth birthday and as we still do to this day all the aunts and uncles grandparents cousins everybody comes over to celebrate the birthdays he said do you remember that most everybody brought a card with $5 in it and we took all of those $5 bills and we put them in a birthday drawer in the kitchen he said this morning at 3:00 a.m. I went right inside that birthday drawer got out one of those [Applause] that is good financial stewardship right there is what that is so I had watched my boy get all excited about treasure that was really already his all alone can't even begin to tell you the treasure that's on the inside of you the treasure that has been given to us hidden vessels disposal ready to be accessed but often we spend our days with the treasure of God's gifting and his fruit and the Spirit of God the power of God that is entrusted to each and every one of us we have tucked it away in a drawer or underutilized under access and I don't know about you but I would hate to get to heaven only to be told look at what you could have had access to that you tucked away and never ever experienced and most of the time when we say Lord would you help me to open up the drawer would you help me to experience everything that you've tucked away on the inside of me Lord would you help me to do whatever it takes to access everything that you have given me access to the way he answers that prayer is with a multitude he puts you in a situation where you were so taxed and so pressed that you have got to pull out what you would have otherwise minimized what you would have otherwise thought was insignificant what you would have otherwise ignored that gifting that talent that idea that thought that patience that creativity the thing that you've tucked away under utilized and uh Naxos Lord I want to see that experience in my life he says well i'ma help you open up the drawer and a multitude is what's going to give you access to it so he takes these disciples that need to be refreshed he takes them to a place where it doesn't look like refreshing it doesn't look like a vacation it doesn't look like what they will need in order to be refueled for the next assignment but Jesus says this multitude is actually going to cause you to see differently the gift that I have already you access to five loaves and the two fish there are the gift to the multitude but it is that multitude that is actually the gift to the disciples it's the multitude that might be the gift to you it's the thing that is so tedious or time-consuming it's the thing that is so taxing or so waiting on you that you're trying to figure out how in the world could this be a gift to me could it be that the multitude is actually the answer to the prayer you've been praying coz I've got this friend her name is Christine Kane she's a wild woman she's nuts and I heard her say something one time that I will never ever forget she said we as believers we pray we pray and we say Lord I want to see you I want to see a miracle but in the next breath we say lord please keep me out of any situation in which a miracle would actually be required everybody wants to see the Red Sea divided but nobody wants to be the one who comes face to face with the Red Sea everybody wants to see the walls of Jericho come tumbling down but nobody wants to be the one who has to walk around those walls in obedience to God trusting that he can cause the fortress of Jericho to come tumbling down in your life if we want to see God then we have to trust that when he sends the weighty multitude that we can't see how in the world this is connected to anything that we feel like we need in our life to fill us up and to prepare us for what's next we've got to trust that the master knows exactly what he's doing so look what the disciples said about this multitude in verse 12 they said send the multitude away come on now this sounds like me does it sound like anybody else when there is a multitude in my life when there's something placing a demand on me or pressing on me that makes me uncomfortable or make me feel like I'm out of my element or it's not easy it's not convenient it's not what I prefer I don't just ask I mean I pray like further like I'm on my knee like Lord if you would please take this multitude away I would be so grateful Lord if you would please let this cup pass from me father so that I can do the work that you have called me to do more take take this multitude away but would you notice that what they are wishing away in verse 12 is the very thing in verse 11 that it says Jesus welcomed they are wishing away the multitude that he has just welcomed resists the urge to wish away but Jesus is welcoming into your experience the multitude that he is not just tolerating but he is welcoming into your life because it is your gift resists the urge to try to pray it away in fact if you have been trying to pray that multitude away but for God's sovereign reasons that we may not never know on this side of eternity he has not released you from that multitude then you can automatically assume that there is a gift hidden in that multitude for me you can automatically see with your chin in your hands in full anticipation that if he's allowed and sustained this multitude in your experience it's because there's something in it that he does not want you to miss so they say send the multitude away but Jesus doesn't oblige them he doesn't allow the multitude be sent away because he knows that in sending it away he will be sending away the actual gift that they need to be able to open up the drawer and see the treasure that they that they already have at their disposal and so when Jesus doesn't go for that they have an oath another alternative and option B look at what they say to Jesus they say well Jesus verse 13 we have no more than five loaves and two fish so maybe let us go and buy food for all these people in other words if you won't let us send the multitude away let us send ourselves away so that we can go to the neighboring towns and communities and accumulate something more because as we currently are is not so patient to handle believe that is at hand we are not enough we do not have enough we are not skilled enough we don't have enough resources we aren't talented enough we don't have the right ideas the right creativity what she has what he has is better or more suited for this task Lord as I am is not enough it has always been the directive of the enemy to make God's people think that as they are today is not enough not suited to the situation that is happening in their life at that current time it's the enemy that makes us think we've got to go somewhere and become something else and gather something more and accumulate something different before we'll be suited to sustain the task that is currently at hand in our life but listen if he has called you to it if he has allowed it that means that you likely already have in your hands everything that you need for that circumstance that you are facing if you just open up the drawer pull it out entrust it to his care you'll get to see a multiplying miracle of the Most High God so Jesus will not let the disciples he will not let us work our ways out of the opportunity to see and experience him in our lives he will not let us send the multitude away he won't allow us to send ourselves away he want us right smack dab underneath the pressure of that multitude because with that multitude weighing on us it gives us the opportunity to open up the drawer and see what he likes to do with loaves and fish and so he says actually in mark chapter 6 our layer of chocolate cake he says to them well what do you have he asked the question what do you have he doesn't say what do you not have that she has that you might need to go get so that you can actually have what is necessary for this multitude he says what do you have then here's the deal he doesn't give them a chance to answer cuz they would likely say the wrong thing it's like when you ask your kid when your kid has the nerve to come to you and say they are bored I mean it's January they just finished Christmas you just scoured Amazon trying to figure out what to get them for Christmas had a few things under the tree that you thought were perfect for them and now they have the nerve to come to you and say they are bored and it takes the restraining power of the Holy Ghost for you not to knock them out you might look at that kid and say well what do you and knowing that they might give you an answer that they will regret we don't even give him a chance to answer Jesus didn't even give him a chance he just said go and look I want to ask you have you even taken the time all the time that you've taken to complain or to compare have you taken any of that energy to just go and look have you asked God to reveal to you to show you what it is that you already have tucked away in your drawer go and look Moses because if you'll just look you will find out that that rod that you've been thinking is just a plain old rod that rod would have held out over the Red Sea will be enough to cause it to divide from one end to the other go and look David I know you see Goliath but if you go look down by the riverbed you'll see that there are five smooth stones waiting on you to show up to see them to utilize them to take that giant down sisters have you gone to look to see what it is that is already at your disposal he says that resource is all you need pull it out entrusted into my hands and when they do the scriptures say Jesus took the five loaves and two fish oh I wish I had time y'all cuz if I had some time I would tell you about the beautiful thing that it is that our God takes our little bits if we'll just go get it he takes it he doesn't turn his nose up there are 15,000 people here what do you think I'm gonna do with a couple pieces of bread and an sardines he doesn't say that he says I we'll receive what you bring to me he takes the meager gifts of man thank you Lord that you take our little bit and looking up to heaven he blessed yo this is what you need cuz everything changes when God's blessing is on your five loaves and two fish this is basically what they call favor favor is what makes the scales unbalanced favor is what mikes make stuff unfair favor is what takes you places where everybody else is going house you get their favor is what puts you in positions you never thought you could hold favor is what allows you to to be in in proximity to people you never thought you would be around favor on your five and two is exactly what did I say your after put it in his hands he will look up to heaven he will bless it he will break it and then he kept giving it back to the disciples and it kept going and going and going and going and there was enough for every person all 15,000 who were there but not just that because it says they were left over somebody say leftovers this wasn't like some little snack y'all this was like Sunday afternoon dinner I'm talking about when we were growing up not that you know we all go out to eat now I'm talking about you know where your mom started dinner on Saturday night anybody know what I'm talking about I remember roast the smell of roast all night long and yeast rolls rising on the counter and macaroni and cheese up bubbling and preparing before we ever left the house that morning to go to church Sunday dinner was already ready I was already salivating and then you came home and you ate this huge meal whereas the words you were barely you were basically comatose for the rest of the day this is the kind of banquet feast I'm talking about that Jesus provided for them so much that they were filled up to overflowing and there leftovers and not just any ol amount of leftovers cuz there were twelve baskets one for each of the 12 depleted exhausted disciples enough for them to take home with them so that they left with more than they came refreshed rejuvenated not exhausted anymore because everything changes when you've had an encounter with the multiplying Jesus can I just pray for any of you who may be in this room today and you need a multiplication miracle because you are in the midst of either a tedious time-consuming or taxing circumstance in your life and honestly you don't see the connection you don't see what this is gonna have to do with that but you want to trust the master that he's gonna take what you got he's gonna multiply it and he's gonna make it so that whatever multitude you've got in your life you'll be brave enough to yield your five loaves and two fish and then trust him to make it so that your five and two are enough for that circumstance if you're in a particular situation right now and you need prayer in that regard would you just raise your hand I'm gonna cover you as we close this time in God's Word lord I thank you for every sister in this room and beyond who has her hand raised right now she is willing Lord to yield to you the little bit she's got I thank you Father that all you ask is for us to give to you what we have to yield it back to you and so I'm asking you sisters as your hands are raised would you even now picture your little bit your five loaves and your two fish the little skill the little talent the little gift the little money the little ideas a little energy that you do have and just say Lord it's yours Lord we yield it to you and full anticipation that you're gonna bless it you're gonna break it and then you're going to multiply it for out your glory and it is in Jesus name that we pray believing this everybody agreed when they said amen
