About a week ago, I gave a talk to a group of ladies. I asked a question, “What holds you back from God?” A few of them stayed quiet and I reminded them that there is no wrong answer. I have an entire list of what holds me back from the Lord. What it all boils down to is that I hold myself back. Why? Because who am I?

Well let me list off a few people in the Bible that were just average people. No importance what so ever. No important titles, no fame and fortune, just everyday normal people. Let’s start with Noah.. So Adam & Eve sinned against God and they get kicked out of paradise. The population started growing and the more people there were, the more sin that was happening. God was over it and wanted to wipe us all off the map. Noah and his family were just normal run-of-the-mill people but what they did have was righteousness. Because of Noah, God spared the human race. I for one and very grateful for Noah.

So, Noah is just minding his own business when God comes to him. Tells him to build this huge boat because this big flood was coming. Noah was faithful to God, builds the boat and tries to tell everyone a storm is coming. He warns them they will die unless they come on this boat. All the people point & laugh at Noah because they all think he’s crazy. Well guess what happened? You got it.. They all died!

The flood comes, they spend a tad over a year on the Ark, the water recedes and Noah is able to get the party started again. He builds an Alter, does all of this stuff that God told him to do and they are able to start populating the world again. So that was the end of sin right? No.. no it wasn’t. Noah grows a vineyard, he gets drunk and passes out naked where his two sons find him. I highly encourage you to read the rest of that story if you never have. Why do people say the Bible is boring?.. Also, I am very much aware that my commentary on the story of Noah is a little unorthodox. I just needed to simplify this story a tad bit to make a point!

Who was Noah? He was just an average man that God used to save the entire human race. He wasn’t some person with a high social status and he wasn’t someone who went around telling people he was highly favorable in God’s eyes. He worked and took care of his family.

What’s that got to do with me? I am a simple person that sits behind a desk all day in an office all by myself. I’m not famous and I’m not special. You can ask some random person that lives across the world, “Hey do you know that Leah girl?” and most likely they would say…ummm no? But God has a purpose for me as well. I may not make an impact that would be written in history to be passed along for centuries to come but my obedience to the Lord can help someone else find the Lord and I can see them in Heaven. That in itself is worth it!

I am apart of a small group of people that meet every week and study the Bible. We’ve studied all four gospels and what is cool about it is that we took turns teaching a few chapters. That way we each get to study on our own and we can hear it from different perspectives. Not to mention that there is always great conversation to be had during these studies. It’s my favorite day of the week! We were studying the book of John and it was my turn to teach. One of the chapters I had was John chapter 6, which included Jesus feeding the 5,000. I researched commentary after commentary trying to find something significant about this story and boy did I find it.

Keep in mind that the entire point of this blog is that God uses the smallest blip on the radar to make the biggest impacts. I am also willing to bet that some of you didn’t even realize that this person in the Bible played a very important role during a very big miracle! I would love to be able to reference where I found this information at but unfortunately I could not find the site.

Are you ready for this? John 6:9 says, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Did you catch it? The boy.. Since we really don’t know much about this boy, I am going to tell this story the way my brain translates this and also trying to remember what the commentary said that I found on this.

So, backing up a little prior to this great event. Jesus was in Jerusalem doing his thing. Telling people the truth, he healed a few people and this was making all the higher ups pretty angry because Jesus was doing this on the Sabbath. Jesus knew they wanted him to die so he really couldn’t stick around. If you have read all four gospels then you know the story is different in each one and I am referencing right now from the book of John. So, Jesus crosses the sea of Galilee and he’s hanging out with the disciples on this mountainside. Jesus looks over and sees all these people coming towards them. Jesus knows these people are going to have to eat something. He asks his disciples, “Where shall we buy bread for these people?” John 6:5. They are like, ummm do you know how much that will cost? How are we going to afford that?

This is where it gets good, and now we are back to John 6:9 where it talks about the boy having the fish & bread. We don’t know if this was a small boy or a big boy. All I know is that there is a boy holding some food that Jesus is about to use to feed 5,000 people. That boy had no idea he was about to be apart of one of the biggest events ever recorded. (I got Holy Ghost bumps just thinking about it) This kid just walks up with some food and Jesus is like watch this! Never in a thousand years would I have ever though twice about “the boy” in that verse. I was only focusing on the fact Jesus had enough food to feed all those people and then some.

So again, what holds you back from God? Why do you think you’re not good enough to fulfill God’s will? I don’t really consider myself a Noah as I more relate the boy. Just a simple little somebody that loves the Lord and is trying to help others believe in Jesus. As I was writing this, I became more aware that God did give me a calling. He told me to write.. I can write in a way that people can relate to. Not everyone thinks like me nor do they talk like me but someone does. That someone is who I am talking to. I don’t understand big words and get confused when people start speaking King James to me. But through studying and willing to be teachable I’m starting to understand more & more.

Who knows where God will take me next. Maybe I’ll write a book one day or something other than blogs. But unless I get out of my own way and be faithful to the Lord I’ll never know. Unless you get out of the way and let God work, you’ll never know either.

I love your face!

Stay tuned..