(Written by: Pastor Melissa Torres Arenz on 06/02/17
I have learned over the years that God can use anyone if they are willing to be used. Years ago, when I was getting trained to go into the ministry, I didn’t feel like I knew enough to feed God’s people with what they needed. I was teaching and praying for people, with my pastors always backing me up, but I still felt like I didn’t know enough to do the job myself.

While driving to work one morning, I thought about when Jesus told the disciples to feed the crowd of 5000 men (PLUS all of the women and children). In the gospel accounts of Matthew 14:14-21, Mark 6:37-39 and Luke 9:10-15, the disciples urged Jesus to send the crowd away so they could go and find food and lodging. Instead, Jesus told the disciples to feed them. When the disciples heard this, their response was one of disbelief. They asked him, “How are we going to feed all of these people?”

I said something similar to my Pastor/Apostle when I went on my very first mission trip, along with other ministers, and he told us to pray for everyone. When we started to pray, the people kept asking for the Apostle to pray for them. (I didn’t blame them because we were a bunch of rookies.) So we turned to our Pastor/Apostle and told him, “They don’t want us; they want you to pray for them”. I’ll never forget his response, “Yes, but God wants YOU to pray. The anointing is on you.” Who could argue with that? So we turned around and prayed for the people, and God showed up.

Well, when the disciples asked Jesus how they would feed all of these people, he took that opportunity to teach them not to look to themselves for provision but to look to the Lord by bringing Him all they have. The first thing Jesus said was, “Go and see what you can find.” In the crowd of 5000 men, they only found five loaves of bread and two fish. There was hardly enough food to feed a crowd of people in their eyes, but it was just enough in Jesus’s eyes. As you read on, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and held them up to the Lord, prayed over them, and blessed them. Then, He told the disciples to distribute the bread and the fish. The baskets never emptied as people pulled out loaf after loaf and fish after fish. That day, the bread and the fish were multiplied until everyone had their fill, and twelve baskets were left over. God blessed it, anointed it, and it was enough.

As I was thinking over this story, I wondered what I could give God’s people. I felt like all I had to offer Jesus was one small saltine cracker, hardly enough to fill one person, let alone a crowd, but that morning, as I was driving to work, I poured my heart out to the Lord. This is what I said:

Lord, if all I had was a cracker?

Could you use me too? To feed your hungry people and be a blessing, too?

Would it be enough to feed them and draw them closer to you?

For all I have is this cracker to hold up for you to use.

But I’ll hold this cracker up as high as it can go

To help feed your hungry people as their journey goes.

For all the times you walked me through and fed me on my way,

I give to you all I have, one cracker in my hand.

I know the day is coming when I can hold up more;

But today, I’ll give this cracker to glorify the Lord.

I still get tears in my eyes when I read that because I can honestly say that God has taken that cracker and multiplied it in many ways. Now, I have more than just one cracker to feed God’s people, but I would not be here today if I hadn’t held up that one little cracker years ago. So don’t let the enemy tell you you are not enough for God to use. You may not know a lot, but God will use what you know to help others. Hold up what you have and let God use you to minister to His people, His children. Even if you only have a smile and a hug, God can anoint that to encourage and love on someone who desperately needs it. Never doubt what a small gesture can do for those around you, especially if God anoints it.

When we are faithful with a little, we will be faithful with much (Luke 16:10). I want to encourage you today. If you feel like all you have is one little cracker to hold for God to use, HOLD IT UP! You will be amazed at what God will do and how He will multiply it to bless those around you. One anointed word will destroy the yoke of bondage in a person’s life. God needs you to be His hands, feet, and voice. We all have to start somewhere. I started out with a small cracker, and ten years later, I saw that cracker grow into loaves and fishes for many of God’s people. I guarantee if you give God all you have, He will use it for His glory.

Blessings