TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE

DEVOTIONAL

by Elder Chris Beltran

A little girl named Hattie May Wiatt stood crying outside a church. She was turned away because it was too crowded. “I can’t go to Sunday school,” she sobbed as Pastor Dr. Russel Conwell walked by. He took her by the hand and found a place for her in the Sunday school class that she regularly attended.

Two years later, little Hattie died in one of the poverty-stricken tenement buildings near the church. Her parents called for the church pastor, who had befriended their daughter, to handle the final arrangements. Hattie’s mom gave the pastor a tiny purse that her daughter had. Inside, it contained 57 cents and a note scribbled in childish handwriting. The note read, “This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday school.” They were so poor that it took Hattie two years to save 57 cents. Dr. Conwell took the purse into the pulpit and told one little girl’s dream to build a larger church. A newspaper learned the story and published it. Eventually, $250,000 was raised by the sacrificial giving of the members. It was a large sum during the 19-century. Hattie’s dream came true.

Temple Baptist Church in Philadelphia eventually grew to a large church with a sitting capacity of 3,300. Dr. Conwell also founded Temple University in 1884, with the church located inside the campus. The church also built The Samaritan Hospital, now University Hospital, to provide medical care for those who lived in the neighborhood. God gave Hattie May a vision, and she acted in her small way. Through that vision and her 57 cents, with hard work and sacrifice, they made impossible dreams come true by God’s grace.

According to the Gospel of John, a boy brought his five loaves and two fishes to heed Christ’s call and provide food for 5,000 people. He didn’t know how his meager contribution would impact anything, but he still sacrificed his lunch. Jesus used his five loaves and two fishes to feed more than thousands of people with even baskets of leftovers. An example of how, when we give up something, it multiplies in the hands of Christ.

If the Lord gave us a dream, a vision, or a calling, we should not disregard it because of fear of the task’s impossibility. Five loaves and two fishes were impossible to feed 5,000, yet it became possible in Christ’s hands. Hattie’s dream of a bigger church seemed improbable, 57 cents seemed like nothing, but it was used to start building the Temple Baptist Church and the Temple University. A ball in my hand costs two thousand pesos. A ball in Steph Curry’s hand is worth millions. A sermon in my hands may be suitable for one online message, but the same sermon in Billy Graham’s hand may worth millions of souls saved. One family may consume bread and fish in a boy’s hand, but in Jesus’ hand, it can be eaten by thousands. A nail in a carpenter’s hand can be used to secure pieces of board together. However, nails in Jesus’ hands were used to save the world from sins and helplessness. It depends on whose hands you put your trust. The Lord is not looking for our ability and resource. He asks us to put our dreams and whatever we have in his hands; trust God, and see the improbable and impossible happen.

REFLECTION

What is the dream and passion the Lord has given us? What are the gifts and talents that he has provided us? Our role is to take the first step of faith, putting our full trust and confidence in His promises, and we will see how great is our God.

PRAYER

Lord, You have given me a vision of what You want me to do. However, I just put it aside because of the fear that it may be impossible and the inconvenience it will give. Please take away all my anxiety, fear, and short-sightedness. Help me learn to look beyond my limitations and trust the unlimited and all-powerful God in Jesus’ name, amen.