- Hi, this is Joel in Victoria.
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You know, I'm reminded today that God always start small.
God takes the small and goes big. You know, God's got to do things with seeds that multiply. And today I just want to remind every one of us, you may feel small. You may feel like you don't have enough.
Are there maybe some small things in your life? You don't know if you really can handle. But I want to tell you something. When you put those small things in the hands of Jesus, you know what, he can go from small to big.
He can go from small to big. You see, God told the Israelites, when they were going to possess the land in Deuteronomy.
He says, "I'm going to decrease your enemies
so that you can increase." He said it like this, "He says little by little, I am going to decrease the enemies in the land so that you can increase and take possession of the entire promise in this land."
You see, God started small and wanted them to go big. So he wanted them to have the capacity to be able to handle what he was going to give them. He didn't want the land to overtake them. He wanted them to overtake the land.
But he had to decrease the enemies small, slowly so that they could increase. So that means that God was increasing them incrementally throughout their journey.
“And to you know, that's what God wants to do for you today.”
He wants to increase you. What you think is small and insignificant, God wants to go big with it.
But you've got to learn to handle the small first.
Many of you know the story in Matthew 4 in the Gospels when Jesus was preaching and teaching to the multitude. They'd been with him all day long. He had healed the sick among them, and he was just loving on them all day long.
And the disciples came to Jesus and they said, "Jesus, the people have an eaten all day." And it's starting to become evening. And they need to leave. And they need to go find food.
Would you release them Jesus so that they can go to the villages and find the food? We don't have enough food to feed them. And Jesus said, "It's not necessary for me to release the people. You feed them."
They said, "We don't have enough to feed them. We only have five loaves and two fish. It is not enough to feed the multitude. It's too small." I loved the way Jesus said, "You feed them."
Now, he'd been doing miracles all day. Wasn't going to be difficult for Jesus to just multiply the food. The disciples hadn't done any miracles. But yet, he looked at them and said, "You feed them." You see, what they thought was small.
What they thought they couldn't handle. See, they couldn't handle feeding this many people with such a small thing. He said, "Bring it to me." And you know the story. They brought it to Jesus.
He broke it. He blessed it. And he gave it back to them so that they could feed the multitude. You see, Jesus took that small and let them go big. He let them be a blessing that day.
He let what they had in their hands feed the multitude. I want you to know that God thinks the small is very important. Oftentimes, we overlook the small because we want to go big. Oftentimes, we don't think we have to deal with the small because it's not going to make that much difference anyway.
“But I believe Jesus was telling us in this story,”
the small things matter, don't overlook the small things. You see too often, we think that the complaining doesn't really make a difference. We think because we're not treating our spouse right, it doesn't really matter. It's not what we're wanting to do anyway. The lack of integrity may be leaving the office early, sneaking out.
It's okay. My boss isn't looking.
See those are small things that matter to God.
They're small things. He's saying, "Hi, you're handling the small things. Observe the small things." Then too often we say, "We don't have enough. They don't match the dream.
They don't match my desires. I don't have the right education. I don't have the proper finances. I don't have the resources. I didn't come from the right family.
I can't do what I would like to do. That's small stuff too. See all of this stuff is small. But God likes to take the small and he likes to go big. But we've got to put the importance on the small.
“You know, I believe that's why God gives us babies.”
Because they're small. Then they go big. Can you imagine him giving us this grown baby? We wouldn't know what to do with it.
God always starts with the seed.
He wants us to go big. But we got to handle the small stuff. Like the disciples. They had it in their hand. They didn't know how to handle it.
Until Jesus gave him the secret. Bring it to me. Listen, you got some problems in your life. You got some, some unforgiveness in your life. See, those small things can go big if you don't bring them to Jesus.
The bitterness, the root, the envy, jealousy. Those things can all go big if you don't bring them to Jesus. You want him to multiply. You want him to give you promotion. You've got to work the small things.
You've got to not overlook the small things. You know, we're sitting in this auditorium today. And it's amazing. It's beautiful. We get together together.
We get to sing. We get to worship God in such a magnificent place. But you know what I remember about this building. Over 32 years ago sitting up there by the flag. Watching the rockets play basketball.
It was my very first date with my husband, Joel. You see, it looks one way to you. But gosh, looks another way to me. You see, it started with a seed.
“But can I tell you that it was a lot of small stuff along the way?”
And can I tell you this?
We'll never ever get rid of the small stuff.
It doesn't matter how big you go. There's always the small stuff. You have to bring to Jesus. There's always the small stuff. When we learn how to handle the small stuff,
God will give us more stuff to handle. He'll enlarge our capacity. You see, 32 years ago, Joel and I could never handle What's going on in our life today. It would have overtaken us.
Instead of us possessing it, it would have possessed us. We did not have capacity. We were not in that place that we could deal with it. And see, that is what God is saying to you. He is saying, I want you to possess.
But I want you to start with the small stuff. We went to the funeral service of the Great Evangelist Billy Graham Friday and celebrated 99 years of a man who touched millions. We celebrate this iconic legend. We see his big life.
But we don't see the small stuff he dealt with every single day. The choices, the adjustments. The things that he did when no one was looking. The things that he did when he didn't know if it would even make a difference. You see, we see the big.
We fell to see the small. I have a beautiful oak tree in my front yard. It spans forever with the limbs. And as I look at that tree, it's very difficult for me to believe that it started from an acorn.
You see, it's big. All I see is the big. But that tree had to start small. God takes the small and he goes big.
“Can I tell you if you will learn to handle the small things?”
The secret is bring them all to Jesus.
Let him break him. Let him bless him and he'll go big in your life, amen. Amen. We all go through disappointments and things that are not fair. But God sees every hurt, every injustice.
And he's promised to pay you back for the unfair things. I love to send you my new resource, double for your trouble.
It's filled with inspiration, doubt you stay in faith.
And not get bitter and think why me. No, that setback may have been painful.
“But the fact is, it sets you up for trouble.”
God will make the enemy pay and bring you out better than you were before. This ministry is reaching people around the world with a message of hope. And as our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount, we would like to send you a copy of double for your trouble. A daily guide for restoration.
This 31 day spiral-bound resource is an invitation into healing. Restoration and the abundant life God has promised. Whether you're walking through a season of loss,
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“Receive your copy and know that whatever you're facing today,”
grief, loss, uncertainty. It doesn't define your future. Choose to trust God. He sees you. He cares deeply.
And he is the God who restores double. None of us like difficulties. But if you'll stay in faith, you won't come out the same. You'll come out with double. Victoria, not pray for you and your family every day.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
“Your donations are bringing hope to people around the world.”
Special thank you to our champion of hope partners for all you do to make the ministry possible. Until we see you again next week, May the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of Double for your trouble. Available this month by simply visiting us at jolosteen.com
or call 888-567-jol. You can also receive God's Got You Restoration Duo. This book is a powerful reminder that no matter what you face, you are not alone. God's Got You.
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If you've never been to Lakewood, we have a great opportunity to come.
We call it homecoming weekend. We'd love to meet you and your family. You can see the building, a tin one of the services. It's a great time to be a part of the Lakewood family. Looking forward to seeing you at homecoming weekend.
