Whatcha Got?
The Holy Spirit stirred my heart while at a secular concert! Now, Before you stop reading because, A- you believe The Holy Spirit doesn’t go to secular concerts and/or B- “Boy Bands”……. Hear me out!
I was recently at a New Kids On The Block concert! (my favorite band as a teenager) I first was inspired by the sheer Huge-ness of it all! A Las Vegas residency….. It doesn’t get much bigger than that. The noise, the lights, the people, the music, the energy, the nostalgia! I was immediately transported right back to my 15 year old self the second the beat dropped for “Hanging Tough.” It was such a fun night! I did not expect to come away from there feeling like I felt. It was a secular concert after all and i’m feeling the stirring of the Holy Spirit in my heart? (I can hear the pharisees now) I had to pause and take a step back, and try to find the pulse of what I was actually feeling. Was it conviction because I got a little too happy when Jordan flashed his abs? (Lol just keeping it real) That didn’t feel like it. It was something more! Something deeper that was bubbling up.
As days went by and I was still experiencing what people much cooler than me call a “concert high” the answer hit me through the lyrics of…would you guess, another New Kids On The Block song!
I was in my car, top down, singing to the top of my lungs…vibing! Wishing I was back in Vegas. Now, before this moment ,when I was still thinking I was just feeling intoxicated with the whole Vegas Vibe, I had watched some interviews with the New Kids. There was one where Donnie Wahlberg was sharing the bands origin story. He was telling how so many things had to happen, at just the right time and just the right place for NKOTB to become NKOTB; from the neighborhood where they lived, to the school they went to, to who their friends and neighbors were, even where they went to the park to hang out! It was a perfect storm of destiny tossing all the pieces together for these 5 teenagers from a…..
“Nobody town, making the most of the things that we found!” And there it was! The unexpected single line from a song that became the turning point in my story.
“We’re still just kids from a nobody town……… making the most of the things that we found” from their song, Still Kids.
I’ve spent years learning to be content with what I have while still believing there was more. Can you relate? My prayers often sounded something like this: “God, I am so grateful for the life You’ve given me. I truly am. But….A few million dollars wouldn’t hurt either. I promise I’d use it for your glory.” If I’m being completely honest, Ive also caught myself daydreaming about what it must feel like to create something so meaningful that people are still singing it, talking about it, and packing out arenas some thirty years later. To leave that kind of mark on history….WOW! That has to be a surreal feeling.
As I sat there lost in those thoughts, the Holy Spirit gently interrupted my daydream. He took the lyrics of that song and made them intensely personal. Suddenly, they weren’t about someone else’s story anymore, they became about mine.
“Nikki, What have I already put in your hands?” He asked. “What do you already possess?”
This was the same question Elisha asked the widow in 2nd Kings ch 4. Her answer and mine were the same…… Nothing! But wait, then she remembered and said, “Nothing, except a tiny bit of oil!”
What she had was so little that at first she didn’t even consider it. But when she took the tiny bit that she had and offered it up in obedience, something life altering happened….it multiplied! It multiplied so much that it created provision for her entire family and actually saved their literally lives.
Many times in my life, I have overlooked what I actually have because it felt too small to be of any use. But I was reminded again that even a mighty oak tree starts from a tiny seed.
So what is in your hands that you’ve been overlooking that could create an impact? That could create the “more” you’re looking for? Is it a gift or a dream you’ve had that you need to take off the shelf and dust it off?
Zechariah 4:10(A) says, “Don’t despise these small beginnings”
Even the greatest of inventions that have changed the world all started as an idea!
So today, I encourage you to look around. Take inventory of what you already have and what God has already placed in your hands. If you can’t see anything of value, ask the Lord to open your eyes. Im convinced there’s some oil in your house or maybe a tiny packet of seeds just waiting to be poured out, planted and watered.
And never discount where, how, or through what God chooses to speak. God isn’t limited by the messenger! He can use a sermon, just as easily as He can use a donkey, a stranger, a child, a sunrise, or even the lyrics from a boyband song. Because sometimes the message that changes your story comes from the place you’d least expect.
1 Peter 4:10-11
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever!
Amen
