"Using What You Have!"

The family was bowling. Christian, a nine year old, seemed to be winning by a large margin. He certainly was beating the older players in the group.

What was obvious was that he was the smaller player in the group. He had a lighter ball, he didn’t weigh very much and he couldn’t hold the ball “correctly” or roll the ball with a lot of force. Yet he was knocking down many pins and rolling an occasional “strike”.

Upon closer observation, Christian had a gently strategy. You see, the “bumpers” (foam rails lowered for more inexperienced bowlers to keep the balls from going into the “gutter”) were down. Christian had figured out how to use the bumpers to his advantage. He would gently roll the ball and let it bounce off the bumpers to knock the pins down. And, he was consistently knocking down more pins that the others in his group.

Christian didn’t have a heavy ball like the others. He didn’t have the strongest body. He didn’t have much experience.

But Christian didn’t focus on what he didn’t have. He focused on what he did have. He used what he did have to be successful in the game.

You know, so often we focus on what we don’t have. Our attention is drawn away from our mission and ministry to envy what someone else has, things (tangible or intangible) that may be “bigger” and supposedly “better” than what we have. In so doing, we fail to see and use the incredible resources that God has given us for our daily life, faith, ministry and mission.

Christian’s lesson for faith is about focusing on the talents and resources God has given us, about looking at our abundance rather than our supposed scarcity and about recognizing that “bigger” isn’t always “better” when it comes to the economy of God’s kingdom.