Giving God My Lunch

Brown Bag (without staple)Have you ever tried to talk God out of using you? You long for Him to use you. You pray for Him to do mighty works through you. And then an opportunity comes your way, and panic worms it’s way into your heart.

Me? Are you sure you want to use ME, Lord?

When I start giving Him my long list of reasons why He shouldn’t use me, He reminds me that all He’s asking for…is my lunch.

My lunch? Okay, not my soup and my sandwich. But my gifts, my talents, my abilities, my personality. God wants me to give Him all that I am and then watch what He can do.

I am sure you remember the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. The time that He took one boy’s lunch of 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and multiplied it to the point of not only feeding everyone until they were satisfied, but there were even leftovers!

I sometimes wonder how that little fella felt when he offered up his lunch in the face of that much need. Did he feel at all insecure about his itty-bitty lunch?

I know I get insecure about what I have to offer. The “I’m not”s start flying. I’m not good enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not capable enough. Look at my lunch. All I have is bread and fish. Pitiful. And I don’t even LIKE fish. What can God do with this?

Or I start comparing my lunch with everyone else’s, forgetting that I am a unique and purpose-filled creation. I look at the gifts and abilities of others and feel like I come up short. Why am I a tuna on rye while she is a double-decker club sandwich with a pickle on the side?

I can even get kind of nuts over what my lunchbox looks like, forgetting God looks at the heart and not my appearance. I’m just a plain ol’ brown bag, and she’s a sleek, shiny lunchbox with matching thermos. Sigh. As if my outer beauty determines my usefulness to God. Ummmmm…NO!

It is so easy to get our focus in the wrong place, looking at ourselves and what we can and cannot do. We forget that God isn’t looking for us to wow Him, but He’s just looking for us to obey Him. To be willing. To humbly hold up what we think is a meager offering and say, “Use me. I am yours.”

One little boy got to play a part in a huge miracle that day. And all he had to do was let his willingness meet up with God’s awesome power. The same can be true for us – no matter how pitiful we may think our lunch may be.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 -8 NAS

Today may we not look at the size or worth of our offering, but instead at the greatness of our God. Let’s give Him our lunch. I think we’ll be amazed at what He can do!

17 Responses to Giving God My Lunch
  1. Michele Fort
    November 4, 2011 | 7:13 am

    Brilliantly written and conveyed, Kimberly. I can totally relate! Going to offer up my meager lunch today.

    • Kimberly
      November 5, 2011 | 5:40 pm

      Thank you so much, Michele! So glad He LOVES us and desires to use us. 🙂 And so glad you are going to give Him your lunch! 🙂

  2. Karen Allen
    November 4, 2011 | 8:01 am

    Beautifully written and spot on! I so often wonder if I had been there that day, so many years ago, if I would have offered up my lunch to Jesus. Would I have been the one to say, “Jesus, here’s what I have, it’s not much, but it’s Yours”? I wasn’t there that day, but I am here, now, saying the very same thing…and the amazing things is, He uses my lunch for His very own glory…humbled.

    • Kimberly
      November 5, 2011 | 5:42 pm

      Thank you, Karen! And I wonder the same thing. Would I have even thought to offer my lunch? Makes me stop and realize how careful I need to be about letting my fears and doubts limit God being able to use me. Blessings to you as you give Him your lunch!!! 🙂

  3. Jennifer Scruggs
    November 5, 2011 | 7:26 am

    I happen to really like Tuna on Rye. Much better than anything with a pickle on the side. 😉
    And I happened to need to be reminded of this today. Thanks friend, for faithfully giving him your lunch. Love your guts! Jenn

    • Kimberly
      November 5, 2011 | 5:42 pm

      Hee hee. So glad you like tuna on rye. 🙂 I love you, too! And He has used YOU more than once or twice to feed this heart of mine. 😉

  4. Kathie
    November 5, 2011 | 8:03 pm

    I am so relating to this with my bag lunch compared to YOUR shiny lunchbox and matching thermos. 🙂 Thanks, Kimberly, you are more than you know in His Kingdom. Keep Braving the Dark with The LIGHT, Kathie

    • Kimberly
      November 6, 2011 | 11:00 pm

      Alright now! No comparing! 😉
      You are a blessing…with your sweet encouragement to me and the bright light of Jesus you shine in the world.
      Much love to you, Kathie!

  5. Momma Shoe
    November 5, 2011 | 9:15 pm

    Once again, I am grateful for the way you tie a specific visual image to the biblical truth in your post. Every time I see a brown lunch bag I will think of the words God placed on your heart about giving our all to Him. I love the way you mention comparing our lunches to others. Often times as a stay-at-home mom with 5 young children, I feel like a tuna fish sandwich on week old bread and think that the mom over there is a loaded hoagie on a freshly made bun. Thanks for the encouragement that no matter what kind of lunch we have, it is worthy of offering to the Lord.
    Thanks for giving Him your lunch through your writing. It continues to be a blessing to me:)

    • Kimberly
      November 6, 2011 | 11:03 pm

      Specific visual images is one of the main ways He speaks to me. That’s one of the best ways I “get” the things He wants me to see. 🙂
      I so struggle with the comparison thing. But I am forgetting when I put down what is in my lunch that HE actually made this lunch! I am questioning Him and how He made me.
      He loves you and He loves me and He wants to use us! May we cling to truth. 🙂

  6. Barbie
    November 6, 2011 | 1:27 am

    Kimberly, I absolutely loved this post! I always thing that my meager little offering will offend God, like I should have more to bring. But all He asks is that we willing give back to Him what we do have. I am going to pack my little offering in a papersack and bring it before the Lord!

    • Kimberly
      November 6, 2011 | 11:05 pm

      Thanks, Barbie! I am actually kind of glad I was late on my devotion. 😉 This is NOT what I originally intended to write, but ended up being just what I needed.
      Continuing to work on my own willingness,
      K 🙂

  7. Positively Alene
    November 6, 2011 | 8:41 pm

    Love, Love, Love! Oh my . . .I can relate. I question. I doubt. I stumble. I love the lunch bag you portrayed and how God can use it all. A great visual that will bless me. Blessings.

    • Kimberly
      November 6, 2011 | 11:07 pm

      So glad it blessed you, Alene. I love how He speaks and how He encourages us through His Word and through just plain ol’ every day stuff. 🙂

      And thanks for your sweet comment here AND at my blog! Blessings, K

  8. Carol Hatcher
    November 11, 2011 | 9:35 am

    I ***LOVE*** this!! Great job on this one Kimberly. Definitely something I struggle with. I wake up every day saying, “Use me, Lord,” and then when he says ok – I respond with “Are you sure?” Great illustration!

    • Kimberly
      November 11, 2011 | 12:34 pm

      This was actually a lesson I taught in my Bible Fellowship group a while back. But it SO fit for me the night I wrote it in devotion form because I was VERY much questioning God on using me! Thanks for the sweet words. Love you!

  9. Deloris L. Purgason
    February 26, 2013 | 2:33 pm

    Today I’ve started a project to call out Jesus’ name and listen to what God speaks and to be obedient to His prompting. My bank account has negative $209.00. I went to the grocery store because He said to, with $4.00 that I dug out of my change urn and a Starbucks gift card a client had given me for Christmas. As I parked, I looked to my left and found I was parked beside a red delivery truck, the side emblazened with gold letters reading, ‘PROVISIONS.’ I went inside and God asked what I wanted for lunch. I chose a Boar’s Head chicken sandwich for $2.99. At the check out I paid the $3.05 to the cashier, who I see very frequently, and told her I really hoped God would bless her today. Then I went to Starbucks and got a small coffee and an oatmeal, and had $5.80 left on the gift card, and Jesus asked me to leave the remainder for the next guest. I did, but was scared to say, ‘God bless you,’ to the baristas. I walked toward the cafe area and saw my nephew sitting, working on his computer. He was broke and had had no coffee. I got him a coffee on the gift card and told the girls at the counter that I had been afraid to say, ‘God bless you’ earlier, but just HAD to now, and that I really meant it. My nephew and I chatted about God and church and budgets and after a little I headed to work. On the way Jesus said to give my sandwich to a friend who is unexpectedly pregnant with her fourth child. During my worship that morning she had come up and I thought I needed to give her $20, but after checking my account, I knew I couldn’t. So I gave her the sandwich and she told me she hadn’t had time to make a lunch and she was so hungry. I told her to feed that sweet baby! Now I’M really hungry. I have .95 cents. Well, there it is Lord. I love You.