Immeasurable Resources

The 8 State Lake

Several weeks ago, I visited a cattle ranch in Hoxie, Kansas. If you’re not familiar with Hoxie, you’re not alone. Hoxie is a small agricultural town about 20 miles from Colby, Kansas (the Western Kansas stop along I-70 with a Starbucks). Blink and you’ve driven by the exit at 75 miles an hour.

This cattle ranch is actually considered a feed lot, and just one of several in the area owned by this rancher. We visited the feed lot witnessing (and smelling) over 50,000 head of cattle. It was literally amazing…truly unbelievable.

Now, if you’re like me, you might wonder how a dry-as-a-bone, Western Kansas town can feed and more importantly water hundreds of thousands of cows every year. The answer is an 8 state underground lake or aquifer – the Ogallala Aquifer. It is used all over the region to grow crops and raise livestock for the nation and world.

Not immeasurable

However, this massive underground lake isn’t immeasurable. Experts estimate that at our current rate of usage this water source will be dry in 50 years (and take hundreds of years to replenish). As large a water supply as an 8 state lake is…it comes to an end.

Our lives too are full of examples of resources running dry. Water, food, money, labor, gas…you name it, we’ve run out of it.

God, however, is never short on resources. Ephesians 3:16 tells us God has unlimited resources, and Acts 23 proves it to us.

God has no limit

Paul was in a pickle. He felt God had called him to Rome, he even saw it in a dream. On the other hand, his Jewish adversaries were more than passionate about not letting Paul leave Jerusalem alive. Paul was out of resources.

God however isn’t short on supply. In fact, God had a young boy and an entire Roman empire at his command. And He used it.

God wasn’t limited when it came to Paul, and He’s not limited when it comes to you.

Ask for His resources (for yourself and others!)

If you are in need (and let’s be honest, that’s most of us), then you need to ask. It’s what Paul does in Ephesians 3:14-15. He falls to his knees asking for God to call on His resources for the sake of Paul’s Ephesian friends.

We need to do the same. We need to fall on our knees asking God to use his unlimited supplies (grace, mercy, finances, hope, love, joy) in our lives and the lives of our friends and loved ones.