I Want To Be A “Drop In The Bucket” Christian
I want to be a “drop in the bucket” Christian.
Do you know the origin of the expression “A drop in the bucket?”
It came from the Bible.
For all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. —Isaiah 40.15
It means a very small, or unimportant amount…
And it seems to indicate a status of insignificance and insufficiency.
Small and not enough.
A drop in the bucket.
Ever felt like that?
Like, “Who I am and what I have to offer isn’t enough.”
Can I make a difference?
Does my attempt really even matter?
The “drop in a bucket” expression is found in another place in the Bible…
The Gospel of John describes huge crowds of people following Jesus and listening to Him teach out on the hillside near the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus was concerned that the people needed to eat.
He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do. —John 6.5, 6
Philip started making calculations. It didn’t take long for him to figure out this would be impossible. They didn’t have enough money. Philip pulls his pockets inside-out to illustrate his message to Jesus: NSF (non-sufficient funds).
Then Andrew steps forward…
Andrew said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.” —John 6.9
And then Jesus goes to work.
You know the story. We call it “the feeding of the 5,000.”
That little boy’s lunch was offered to Jesus. It was just a drop in the bucket.
Insignificant and insufficient.
But in the hands of Jesus it became so much more.
It was incredibly significant. Everyone ate. In fact, the Bible says they ate until they were “full.”
And it was more than sufficient. Twelve baskets of leftovers were collected.
What was small and not enough becomes big and more than enough when put in the hands of Jesus.
Let’s get back to those feelings of personal insignificance and insufficiency…
Like “who I am and what I have to offer isn’t enough.”
Can I really make a difference?
Does my attempt even matter?
Yes. Yes. Yes!
Because the small and not enough becomes big and more than enough in the hands of Jesus. We don’t do the heavy lifting. Jesus does. He isn’t asking for us to save the world and carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. He does that. He is The Hero.
He’s simply wanting to stretch our faith and get us to be willing to offer up our “drop in the bucket.” I find this to be both liberating and humbling all at the same time.
It’s liberating to know that I don’t have to do the heavy lifting. The pressure is off. I’m free to be small and insignificant. It’s a relief to know that I don’t have to change the world. I just have to be willing to offer my “drop in the bucket.”
And it’s humbling too. Being a “drop in the bucket” is not applauded. The boy in the story who gave his lunch to Jesus didn’t even get his name printed. He didn’t get to take credit. Sure, he offered up his “drop in the bucket” lunch, but he didn’t perform a miracle that day.
I think we need this liberating, humbling experience…
To offer who we are and what we have.
To give our small, insignificant, weak, and insufficient whatever (talent, ability, resources, testimony, experience, finances, etc.) for Jesus to use.
I want to be a “drop in the bucket” Christian.
