It’s Time to Get Off the Sidelines: Walking Out What God Put in You

I’ve heard it asked before from the pulpit “Are you a consumer, or a contributor?” In other words, do you just take, and never give back?

The truth is, we were never meant to just attend, sit and consume. James 1:22 tells us  “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” We are called to step in, to serve…to be a part of what God is doing.

Comfort can be one of our greatest enemies. Some of us live our lives doing everything we can to make our lives, in every area, as comfortable as possible. As safe as possible. Including our church life.

We like to in, get preached to, then go home. Rinse and repeat. This is consuming. Not that consuming is a bad thing. Obviously we have to consume before we can contribute. But if we never make it to that second part, we are just hoarding what God meant to be shared. My husband often says, “If I knew the cure for cancer, but never shared it with anyone, how would that help?”

The Word is actual life. The cure for death. It is powerful. How tragic and selfish to keep what we know to ourselves. Contribute. Take the love of Jesus with you. Be His hands and feet.

You don’t need “more” to start. You just say “Yes, Lord, use me.” And then you take whatever is in your hand and you use it.

There’s a moment in Scripture that I come back to again and again.

It’s simple.
Easy to overlook.
But it says so much about what it looks like to move from hearing… to doing.

It’s the story of the feeding of the five thousand in John 6.

Jesus is surrounded by a massive crowd.
People are hungry.
The need is obvious.

And the disciples do what most of us would probably do, they start looking at what they don’t have.

Not enough money.
Not enough food.
Not enough resources.

Basically… this isn’t possible.

And then (almost tucked into the story), you see it.

A boy.

Not a leader.
Not a disciple.
Not someone with influence.

Just a boy… with a lunch.

Five barley loaves.
Two small fishes.

That’s it.

Not impressive.
Not enough.
Not even close to what was needed.

But… he was willing to give it.

We don’t see him questioning.
We don’t see him holding back.
We don’t see him saying, “This isn’t enough to matter.”

He just offers what he has.

And here’s what gets me every time:

Jesus didn’t ask for more.
He just used what was given.

He took the little…
blessed it…
broke it…
and multiplied it.

And what wasn’t enough in the boy’s hands
became more than enough in Jesus’.

I think a lot of us are standing where that boy stood…
but we’re doing the opposite.

We’re looking at what we have and thinking:

“It’s too small.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Someone else could do more.”

So we hold onto it.

We stay comfortable.
We stay seated.
We stay in the hearing stage.

But what if it was never about how much you had?

What if it was always about your willingness to place it in His hands?

That boy didn’t feed the five thousand.

But his willingness to offer what he had
is what made the miracle possible.

And that’s where it happens...that shift…

From consumer…
to contributor.

From hearing…
to doing.

So the question becomes:

What’s in your hands right now?

And are you willing to offer it, even if it doesn’t feel like enough?

This is exactly what we’re stepping into at Godly Gals this month.

Not waiting until we feel ready.
Not waiting until we have more.

But choosing to bring what we have…
and trusting God to use it.