Part 2: When the need you see with your eyes is far bigger than the resources you have in your hands

Good morning and welcome to Day 3 of the preparation for dedication series.

Yesterday we saw that as long as you are living a surrendered life in Christ Jesus, there will be many times when the resources we have available in our hands are not sufficient to meet the needs that we see with our physical eyes. Further we saw that God does not consult our bank accounts to give us assignments or to settle His accounts and this alone should serve as an inspiration to get fully committed to doing God’s will.

This morning, we look at the second point:

1. God’s power is best demonstrated in “remote places”

In verse 35, we see the disciples coming to Jesus and reminding Him that they were in a “remote place”. The question is – what was Jesus and the disciples doing in a remote place in the first place? The English dictionary defines a remote place as “place situated far from the main centres of population; distant.  I would like to say to us today that God’s will many times lead you to remote places and your obedience will lay the foundation for experiencing multiplication in your life. Jesus and the disciples were willing to go to a place where no one wanted to go. A remote place speaks of a willingness to go where no one wants to go. It speaks of willingness to do what no one is willing to do. It speaks of attempting to do what no one else has ever done. Remote places speaks of hardship, no immediate benefit or gain, no celebration or pleasure. And as I prepared to write this note, I realised how much wisdom is hidden in this one verse. If you want to experience multiplication in your life, you have to be prepared to go and operate in remote places.

Do you know when we got together in the early 90’s to start an inter-denominational prayer group out of people’s houses in Mombasa that became CREM – this had never been done. All churches were busy running their own town based programs but we chose to do what no one had ever done and this is what gave birth to CREM. When we decided to obey God, purchase equipment that did not belong to any church and go back to our villages to help advance the gospel – this had not been done before. Now when I look back – we were operating in the “remote place” and now we look back and see what God has been able to do. That is why I believe the best days of this ministry are ahead of us – if only we keep doing God’s will and walking in total obedience.

When you operate from this principle, you will be willing to do things no one else has done. Most people want to operate from the “towns”. Towns represent what is common, what everyone else can see and is doing. It represents comfort, pleasure, normal, steady and acceptable. When you operate with a town mentality, you are not willing to take risks.  If you want to enjoy multiplication in your life, you have to make a decision to operate from “remote place principle”. You have to determine not to live like everyone else and this is not easy for people will not understand you. I meet a lot of people that today still don’t understand how we have been able to do what we do as CREM ministry and for such a long time. This principle frees you to do what you feel convinced and convicted off irrespective of what people think. I was reading the story of Mark Zuckerberg – the founder of Facebook – in July 2006 Facebook led by the CEO and founder – then 22-year-Mark Zuckerberg turned down a $1billion offer to be bought by then then giant Yahoo Inc. At this time, Facebook was barely two years old and had only eight to nine million users and $20 million in revenue.  Asked why he turned down such  a large amount of money, Zuckerberg said  “I just thought we could do it,” he said, referring to growing to a much larger scale and eventually becoming a successful public company with much greater valuation.

When I review this, I note that Mark Zuckerberg was operating from a “remote place” perspective. There are things he could see at 22 years of age that even a giant company like Yahoo could not see. He was operating from a “remote place”. He was willing to take a big risk. Can you imagine how foolish he would have looked if Facebook had not succeeded? He would have gone into history as the fool that turned down $1billion – but he was willing to take that risk. People operating from the “remote place” principle are willing to take BIG risks. They are willing to take money and invest in a venture that they don’t know how it would turn out and are prepared to deal with any outcome. To such, God’s miracle of multiplication will surely come!

This morning, I would like to challenge all of us to resist the temptation to operate from “towns”. There is no issue with operating from towns – you will still see only growth but the miracle of multiplication comes to those that operate from “remote places”.

You all know that Mark  Zuckerberg went on to being named Time magazine’s Person of the Year the following year  and by 2016, Facebook’s wold become one of the most valuable brands with brand value of close to $80billion ahead of Coca Cola and even Toyota. That is what we mean by miracle of multiplication that comes to those willing to operate from” remote places”.

Let me tell you, committing to Christ , serving Him fully to your best of abilities and with everything you have is operating from a “remote place” in today’s world where people are focused on themselves but I want to encourage you brethren – multiplication is coming. Let us keep doing what we are doing and even double our efforts and commitment – you will stand to give a testimony – if you believe this say a big AMEN.