Strengthen That Which Remains - Rob Sherwin

Dear Bible Readers, we have just witnessed a profound week in the life of our nation, with the very sad loss of our Queen. One of the overriding senses of the nation is the realisation that someone who was so constant and unswerving in their commitment has now gone, despite the feeling they would always be there as a constant in our lives.

Again we are all faced with the reality of our mortality, the devastation of loss and the uncertainty of the days ahead, but when I read my Bible, I find a God who is unfazed and able to take what little we think remains and do something awesome.

Moses was raised in the palace of Pharaoh, as a Prince, yet he lost it all and ended up in the dessert with just a staff in his hand. God said to him ‘What have you got in your hand?’ That insignificant staff in Moses’s hand became the instrument of God’s liberation of a Nation. Elisha the prophet at a time of national crisis asked a widow ‘What have you got in your house?’ and a tiny amount of oil and flour that she had left, turned into a great deliverance. Jesus, when faced with feeding five thousand asked ‘what food do you have’ and we know what just a few loaves and fishes in his hands did. Nehemiah and Ezra rebuilt the Temple and walls of Jerusalem with a mere remnant of a great nation with just the rubble of a devastated time. The stories go on and on.

The word remnant appears over 500 times in the bible, and the stories surrounding them speak of a God who can do awesome things with what little remains, when put at his disposal!

In Revelation, the church of Sardis was told by God to ‘Strengthen what remains’

Today I hear him ask ‘What have you got, that’s available for me to use?’ It doesn’t matter how small, time limited or insignificant we view it to be, He still has a great plan. Will we strengthen what remains by putting it at his disposal?