Are You a Blessing or a Basketcase?

I have a very large “collection” of baskets in my home and I don’t even know where most of them came from!  Some are from gift or flower baskets and some have a more specific purpose like my Longaberger pie basket. My baskets are varied in sizes, shapes and colors. I have used part of my collection to visually share that we are uniquely designed by God for a purpose. We have different abilities, backgrounds, spiritual gifts and talents.

The term basket-case comes from WW1 British English, indicating a soldier missing both his arms and his legs, who needed to be literally carried in a litter or “basket”.In common slang it is used to mean one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress.

On the other hand a blessing can mean:  1.some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward. 2. good fortune   3.a thing one is glad of

The account of Jesus feeding the 5000 is in all 4 gospels but John gives us a little more detail.  “Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.)5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?”6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered 5,000.)11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.”    John 6:3-13 (NLT)

I’m asking you, “What’s in your basket?”  You may feel like you don’t have much to offer but Jesus asks us to give whatever we have back to Him. He especially delights in using the broken fragments of our lives to help hungry, hurting people. When we are willing to do that, nothing is ever wasted.

So are you a blessing or a basket case? Are you totally incapacitated by apathy, some pain in your life, fear or stress? Give it all to Him and let Him heal your wounded heart. God designed each one of us with a void in our lives that can only be filled by Him.  Are you using your gifts and abilities for God? God created you in a unique way – one of a kind – and you were made for a purpose. I encourage you not to hide your abilities under a “basket” but instead find a way you can serve Him and others!