Luke 19:17
And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
The parable of the three servants who had been given money from their lord is well-known for being a good steward of the things that God has given to us, and rightfully so. However, you will notice that the lord said to the servant that he had been faithful in a very little. What we do not know is how long he had been faithful. We do know it was long enough to turn one pound into ten pounds. When you calculate this increase, that is a 900% increase. Anyone who knows anything about investments knows it takes a long time to make a 900% increase. In other words, this servant was faithful for a long time with the little before he had much.
You have a choice to do with what God has given you: you can either complain about the little that you have, or you can get busy serving the Lord with what you have and see what you can make out of it. It is not how much you have that God is interested in, but how faithful you are to do something with what you have that He is interested in. If you continue to read this parable, the second servant only had a 400% increase, but God still commended his faithfulness over the little that he had. It was the one servant who had no increase that God rebuked because he was not faithful to work with what he had, but he squandered the opportunity to let God use him to multiply his pound. Let me share some lessons you need to learn from this parable.
First, never look at what you have to determine whether you will do something with it. If you wait until you have more, you will never do anything for God. Many wait to start something because they want big numbers, but if you are not faithful to work with the little that you have, you will not be faithful to work with the big numbers if you had them.
Second, God is more interested in your faithfulness with what you have than He is with how much you have to start with. You cannot turn the little into much if you are not faithful to do right while you have little. God will not give a lazy person more if they wait until they have more. God helps the one who is faithful with the little before He blesses them by turning the little into much.
Third, your faithfulness is what God rewards. Some will do more than you, but you are as equal to the one who does the most if you are faithful with what you have as they were. Just because someone does more than you does not make you worse or them better; it is your faithfulness to do right with what you have that God looks at. God wants faithfulness with what we have. Yes, we all would like to have more, but faithfulness is what God looks for and requires.
Fourth, God never says how long we are to be faithful; we are simply to be faithful until God chooses to multiply what we have. You may not have much, but continue to be faithful and never quit or change because your little doesn't seem to be multiplied. Many had been faithful for a long time before they saw God’s blessings on what they did, but they did not give up on being faithful. You cannot control the results of your work, but you can control whether you are faithful to do what is right. Instead of worrying about how big your results are, stay focused on being faithful. Yes, we need to look at the results and ask ourselves if we can do more, but be faithful to do right and God will reward your faithfulness.
Comments