Autoshop Ministries - DeVante Tidwell K2K 7/21/26 Sermon on When a Little Goes a Long Way

Listen, I'm so excited to be with y'all this morning. Y'all feel all right? You sure? Okay, let me, I gotta make sure. I wanna see what's in the room. I wanna see it. Cause if you're not feeling all right, I'll give you the opportunity to leave and come back in until you do, cool? So I'll ask one more time. Y'all feel all right this morning? Oh yeah. All right, there we go, there we go. Hey, I'm gonna jump straight into the word. For those of y'all that I haven't had the privilege of meeting just yet, I met a few of y'all, JJ, Sarah, Jerry. I met a few of y'all. I'm just grateful that I get the opportunity to be here. Um, this is this is special. I don't I don't have to tell you how rare this is for Um spaces like this to not be not only not be, um. You know reserved about their faith But also to just say hey, no, we're gonna make it available for other people Um as well This is this is unique and I believe it's something that god loves and i'm grateful for the

opportunity to be a part of the family, Uh, my last name isn't adams, but listen, I might as well be, you know, So listen, that's because it's everything here is family. So, um, yeah, but enough about me I want to jump straight into the word if that's all right. Cool All right. So i'm gonna go to second king chapter number Four I was gonna say 19. That's that's not where i'm at i'm going to second king chapter number four, And i'm gonna be in verse number one, And i'm gonna give you some context for some of this So, uh, don't feel like you have to know everything about god or the bible or christianity or jesus to be a part of this like we're going to be on this journey together. So I'm going to walk you through it over the next 25 minutes or so. It says this, now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, your servant, my husband is dead. And you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor has come to

take my two children to be his slaves. And Elisha said, well, what should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil. Then he said, go borrow the vessels at large for yourself and from all of your neighbors, even empty vessels and do not get a few. And you shall go in and shut the door behind you, you and your sons, and you shall pour out into all these vessels and you shall set aside what is full. So she went from him, shut the door behind her and her sons, and they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son, bring me another vessel. And he said, there's not another one. And the oil stopped. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, now go and sell all the oil, pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest. I want to talk to you today from this title for my text this morning. Enough is enough.

Enough is enough. I always tell the people that I speak to and I encourage them to take notes on something, because sometimes we'll get to a place where like, man, I need direction and I need God to guide me. It's like, but I feel like he's not speaking. And sometimes I feel like God is responding. He's like, I already did. You just didn't write it down. I want you to write it down so that, you know, when we're not here, you can go back and look at this because maybe you say, man, Devontae, that message wasn't really for me today. Yeah, but it might be for you on Friday. It might be for you next week. It might be for you two weeks from now. And I hope that you would have enough written down that you can revert back to and say, you know what? Hmm, this seems a little bit like what Pastor Devontae was talking about. So let me ask you a question really quick before we get in. How many people can cook? Can you cook?

All right, all six of us in the room that can cook. I am grateful that six of us would be able to make sure that none of us starved if something happened today. Listen, I love to cook. I am from the South. My family has deep roots in Mississippi. I love to be outside and grill and cook big meals for my family. I love it. I love it. But one thing I learned about cooking over the years, especially from my mother and my grandmother, is that a little can go a long way. A little can go a long way. And I love to have my toddlers. I got a four year old and a three year old. I'm not busy at all. I have a four year old and a three year old. I love to let them help me cook. The thing is, you have to be careful because a little does go a long way. If you give them something like salt, it will very quick, quickly ruin the entire meal. Like because my son is very heavy handed. So he just likes to see the salt pour out.

And, you know, his mother's not fond of us wasting groceries for science experience that he wants to do. But what i've learned is the same thing happens with salt same thing like cayenne pepper How many people have ever just tasted a little bit of cayenne pepper? It's hot, right? So imagine putting like a cup. It doesn't seem like a whole lot put one cup of cayenne pepper in your favorite stew I promise you everybody in the house will sweat for the next three days. Okay A little just goes a long way and here's what I found in this passage Is that the widow in this in this passage is now encountering a man of god called a prophet and a prophet is a representative of god in this era. And she's saying that my son, your servant has died. He was somebody that was serving the other representatives of God, serving this prophet and he has passed away. And now she's a widow and she's looking at everything else. And she's saying, now we don't have anything left.

And the creditor is coming to get my son so that they can work for him to pay off the debts. So now she's lost the most important man in her life. And she's at risk of losing the other two. So now she's in this tension and looking and saying man What's gonna happen? What's what what do I what am I gonna have left? I already have lost it all to the point where I can't even pay off my debts But now they're coming to take the last two men that I have left in my life, And this widow gets to this place with this prophet and the prophet tells her to do something unique because as a representative of god God had given him specific power specific authority To be able to speak something And it would happen, So he tells her to go get a jar, tells her to go get a vessel, tells her to go get a space. And it's like, OK, but she just told you that she doesn't have much in her house. And why would you tell her to go and get something that she doesn't have a lot

of? Says, well, I got a little bit of oil. He says, go take the little bit that you have. And I want you to go borrow jars from everybody else. And then I want you to fill those jars with oil. She doesn't fight back she doesn't say that's stupid she doesn't say did you just hear what i just said she just does it, and lo and behold i love that we get the benefit of hindsight when we read scripture like this because we see what happens at the end, not only does that little bit of jar of oil get poured into vessels and it becomes more and more and more and more and more and more and more to the point where she can pay off her debts. But he says, now I want you to stick with your sons and live on the rest. Devontae, what are you trying to say this morning? That a little goes a long way. It just has to be in the right hands. A little goes a long way in the right hands. And some of us are looking at our lives. Some of us are looking at things that

we have, time that we have left, resources that we either don't have, losses that we've taken in the past, mistakes that we've made. And we're saying, you know what, Like, I don't really have a whole lot of that. You know what, Devontae, I'm not really ready to lock in with God like that. Do you know what I've done? Do you know the mistakes that I've made? I don't know if I can go to another level of business. Like, do you know, like some of the things that I've bumped my head on? And do you know that I don't have the same relationships that other people and we look at our lack. And I just aim to tell you that it looks like lack in your hands, but it can very quickly become a lot in God's hands. I'm not telling you that your your lack is the problem. I'm saying that maybe your alignment is. I'm saying that's what's in your heart. You say, man, I've made a bunch of mistakes. I don't know if I can let God in here like, man, like you don't know what I've

done. Yeah, especially, man, college. Right after college, first marriage. Oh, man. And there's a there's this word that we use in scripture to describe this. It's called condemnation. There's a word that we use in scripture to describe this called condemnation and condemnation. You may be familiar with the word condemn when you hear about a house that has been or a building that has been condemned. But I want to give you the definition just in case you haven't. Let me I want to read it because, you know, I'm not the dictionary, but I want to make sure that you have the dictionary's definition. It says this. Condemnation I'm sorry Condemnation is The expression Of very strong disapproval, The expression Of very strong disapproval. And we look at ourselves or we feel like other people are looking at us and we have this sense that we're disapproved. I don't have anything left in my house. I'm disapproved. I've made too many

mistakes, Todd. Disapproved. Devontae, you don't know what I've done, man. I don't even I don't even know why I'm here for real. I just saw it and I saw you on a picture. I thought you look cool because you had unique hair. So I just showed up like, like I don't even know what we're talking about. I feel I feel disapproved. I don't feel worthy. Like I love that. I said it like none of us are. Here's the newsflash. None of us deserve the grace that we're getting. So if you feel like you're not worthy, get in line with the rest of us. But that's what's so good about God is because Romans 8 says this. I want to read it for you so that we understand the difference because when a house is condemned It says that it is unsafe to occupy, And we think that's the condition of our heart, but here's what romans 8 says therefore There is now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Devon, say, how do these two stories align? Because it says for those who are in Christ Jesus, when you align with Jesus Christ, that condemnation you're feeling can fall to the floor. A little goes a long way. It's just little old me. You're right. There's one of you and eight billion other people on the planet. That's just a lie today. That's not the ones who have been alive before you. That's not the ones who have been alive after you. Yet and still you being that minor of a number. God knows the amount of hairs on your head You mean that minor of a number that small of a number that one of eight billion He still says you're worth me Loving as a matter of fact, he says your heart, is not to be condemned at all I don't think it's unsafe to occupy at all as a matter of fact, jesus says I want to live right there, That that that unstable place. I want to live right there that anxious heart. I want to live right there That worried heart.

I want to live right there that heart that's looking around at your situation and looking around at how much you've lost And well, I lost a husband and I don't have anything else And I and they're coming to take the rest of the money and all I have left is a little bit of oil And i'm worried and the past this feels like a snare and I made all these mistakes God's saying yeah, that's the heart. I want that's exactly the space that I want to live So many people run away from jesus because they think they have to get polished to get to him first. And he's saying, I'm here not to condemn you. I'm here to show you that I love you. I'm here to give you grace that you didn't deserve, that you're not worthy of. It's a free gift and you couldn't earn it if you tried. If you could work hard enough to earn the love of God, he would have never had to die. You would have just had to try harder. And here's what's special about the story is it doesn't just apply to the nature of our heart.

It actually applies to life. When I say enough is enough, I really am saying this. All you have is all you need, because when you put all you have in the hands of God, he can take it and do so much more with your yes. He can take it and do so much more with your obedience. He can take it and do so much more with your relationships, with your resources, with your kids, with your family, with your business. He can take it and do so much more when you put it in his hands because he always has been in the business of multiplication. All you have to do is say, God, I tried this on my own. I'm limited, but you're limitless. I'm taking the limits off of God this year. I don't know about anybody else in the room, but I'm taking the limits off of God this year. I'm saying, you know what, Lord, maybe I have been praying small. Maybe I have been looking around at my situation around me and saying, man, all I got is a little bit of oil. So since this is what I have,

this must be what I'm supposed to have. This must be all I'm going to be. And maybe that's not the case. Maybe the key to this is saying if this is all I have, maybe I just need to give it to God so that he can do a whole lot more. Enough is enough All you have is all you need You think he's just little old you You plus god become a majority, You think it's just you You plus god can defeat giants you plus god can say things in your house and say you know what? I know i've led my house a certain way for the last 30 years But from now on we're gonna get up in the morning and we're gonna pray We're gonna get up in the morning and we're gonna get our steps in We're gonna get up in the morning and say, you know, we're gonna take care of our body We're gonna change the way that we eat We're gonna change the way that we talk about people We're gonna smile. We're gonna greet people. I'm not just gonna let people walk by I'm not letting my kids walk by people

and not say good Morning. That's that's what happens when you get in alignment with God He takes a little, and then it starts to shift some things and it becomes more than you could have ever expected, I'll take it take it with your kids Isn't it crazy how a small chore at a young age can then become a character trait when they become an adult? Because a little goes a long way Isn't it crazy in business how the right relationship could do more for your entire brand than than an entire marketing budget? Just because you got the right people a little can go a long way The key is making sure you take the little and put it in the right hands, And that's what this widow does. She listens, but her past was almost a prison for her. She was looking back and honestly, I don't blame her. She's grieving. She's scared. I don't blame her for feeling this way. Just like I don't blame you for being worried about your past.

But what I'm here to tell you this morning is not to let a past that you can't change stop a future that still can. The past can't change. It's intimate. You can't go back and do it. You can't go back to college. You can't go back and uncuss that person out. You can't go back and unslap somebody like you can't come back. You can't. But what you can do going forward is saying and I can make a decision today that the best of my life is going to be for the rest of my life, because I'm going to take what's left of my life. I'm going to take the little I have left and put it in the hands of the God that can make things right. That's what's beautiful about our God is he's not looking to condemn you at all. He's actually giving you an invitation. You're saying, man, I don't know about the whole Christian thing, y'all. I guess that's a little crazy. Like, I mean, you know, changing the way you live and changing the way you think and praying, praying.

No, I don't like to talk to anybody in the morning. You want me to pray? Yes, actually, I do. But here's what what I know is that the key again is not you trying harder. It's you getting closer It's not you working harder to change it's you getting closer to jesus and letting him change you, He'll do the changing you just have to do the submitting, The putting your life in his hands the putting your business in his hands the putting your problems in his hands He doesn't just want you to put in the triumphs in his hand He doesn't just want the stuff that you can't do on your own, He wants the wins He wants the losses He wants to be in the celebrations He wants to be at christmas when everybody's at the house and eating dinner together He wants to be involved in that, He wants to be involved when you're staying up at night and can't sleep because you're worried about What what's going to happen in your business?

What's going to happen with your techs and with your service advisors? He's he he wants to be in that too He wants to be in the space where you're saying man. Am I do I still have anything left in the tank? It has my season passes my time up Have I lost my fastball? He wants to be there, too He wants to be when you feel like i'm on the mountain. I feel like man i'm batting i'm batting a thousand Everything that comes my way i'm hitting it out the park He wants to be in that too, And in your mind when you look at how big the world is how big our universe is. It puts in perspective how big God truly is. And this widow, she breaks out of the prison of her past and she's grieving. She's fearful. She didn't see a way, but just because she didn't see a way out does not mean that God did not have a way. I don't want you to limit God to what you can understand. I don't want you to limit God to how you think about things.

I don't want you to limit God to your resources to your wallet to your contact list I don't want you to limit God to how many spaces you can get in God can do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask think or imagine. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His access is not our access. His resources are not our resources. His strategies are not our strategies. And the thing that I love about God is the more that I've walked with him, the more that I've submitted to him, I've just learned I would rather him get the glory anyway because he can do better than I can. The cool thing about being a Christian is like when we talk about being honest, it's like you get to be honest about yourself. And I look at myself and I'm like, man, I'm really not that good. I'm not that great. Not that great at all. I'm not perfect. I'm the least perfect. Like we could probably have a competition in here today

about who's the least perfect and I might win. But what I love about God is that he matches his perfection and he covers the gap between who I am and who I'm supposed to be. That's all that grace is. Grace covers the gap between who you are and who you're supposed to be. Just like these jars, that little bit of oil put in the right hands, put in representative of God. God is using this as a, as an image to show us when you give me what you have, I can do far more than what you can. And maybe in the room, you're thinking of it and they're saying, man, that sounds like good for my money. But what if he's asking about your mindset what if he's asking about your mental health, would you take would you take that that mind the one that spirals out of control the one that's always worried the one that's always panicking the one that's always impatient the one that's always concerned would you take that mind and

and put it in the hands of god, what if he's asking for your heart you know that that organ that's just beating right here, And he's saying you know what I I want your life, You may feel like it's a mess I don't, You may feel like you're past your prime But I feel like God is saying to you, You never outgrew being my child, How many of us have grown children in the room Anybody have grown children. Do you ever say, man, you know, my adults? No, you still say my kids, huh? Because it doesn't matter how old they get, they will always be your babies. But somewhere along the lines, we understand that for our kids and we don't apply it to ourselves with our Heavenly Father. It's like, God, I'm good now. I feel like I should be better than this. I should be further than this. He said, I want that, too. All i'm trying to say is your little life Is not so little after all, And it can be exponentially better Exponentially greater you could do exponentially

more you could serve so many more people you could impact so many more lives, If you just put it in the hands of god, You're like man, I don't what should I do with this business? Like man things are going great davante What should I do with it with the overflow? Put it in the hands of God and watch him change entire families and communities and bringing people in that have testimonies That's like man, my life changed because you you brought me into the fold, Because you put it in the hands of God Man, you know, Devontae like i'm i'm struggling I really am struggling. I'm struggling at home. I feel like i'm thriving at work But I just can't get through to my kids Those same grown kids. I raise my hand about they don't want to talk to me Why don't you put that relationship in the hands of God? And you would be shocked How fast he can mend things how fast he can redeem relationships how fast he can redeem time.

All i'm asking you to do the challenge for this month the challenge Is for you to find some things I tell everybody if you listen to our podcast I tell everybody to write things down. I tell you to get a journal My challenge for this month is for you to write down some things That you say, you know what? Maybe they haven't been going well because i'm the one in control He said, you know what? I've got too tight of a grip on this and say What can I put into the hands of god? And honestly, I sleep better when I give more to God. When I'm not the one in control, I'll be like, man, you know, oof. Man, we got how much left in the bank account for that, huh? Oof. That's not good. Mm. Mm. Mm. God, did you see that? It's a little different when you take the control out of, you know, wow, man, that's crazy. Wait, the car's having a problem again? Oh, man. Ooh. Again? Yeah. Okay. God. It's so much more peaceful to take the little you have and put it in the hands

of the one who doesn't sleep or slumber. It's so much more peaceful to put it in the hands of the one whose shoulders are bigger than ours, who's been doing this long before we got here and who's going to still be in control long after we leave. Long after our time is up on earth, he's going to still be God. And he was God before we got here. So why don't you, if he's asking for it, why don't you put it in his hands and rest, put it in his hands so he can tell you what to do next and give you relief like the widow got because when she put it in the proper hands the jars were full, and the very same fear that she was worried about was no longer even an issue, said yeah no you and your sons live off the rest pay the credit off and y'all gonna have a good rest of your life, and i wonder today i just want to make a call i want to pray for some people with every head bowed, every eye closed, just if you feel comfortable.

I wonder if there's some things in your life, not just business, not just parenting. I wonder if there's some heart issues, you know, some anxiety you need to give to God, some control you need to give to God. I wonder if maybe like Todd said, you've made life about you. And God is saying, hey, I'm here. Hey, I see you. Hey, I'm the one who made you. Why don't you get closer to me so I can tell you how this is supposed to go? I wonder if there's some things in your world that you could give to God. I wonder if there's a heart that you're willing to give and say, you know what, Devante, I haven't really been living for God at all. This is my first time hearing about a Jesus that really loves me so much. So that he is inviting me into a new place. I wonder I wonder if anybody's in the room or being simulcast at the other locations, that can say, I want to live. I want to live for God. I want to try that peace that you talked about. I haven't slept let alone had rest in a long time.

Good thing that we serve a Jesus who says, come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest. Are you tired? Are you burnt out? Come close. Are you tired of trying to do this your way? Tired of being in control? Because if you are in control and you'll take all the credit, then that means you also have to take all the blame. Come to me. I'll give you rest. Say, man, I'm ready for a different life. The way that I've been doing this, It very clearly has not been working If that's you You say you know what If my clock stopped today, my heart stopped beating I don't know where I would spend my eternity Because eternity is real, Say I'm not really right with Jesus I'm going to give you that opportunity this morning, If you're in the room under the sound of my voice I'm just going to count to three And you say you know what, Devontae, I really don't know what it all means I just know that I'm ready to start Say I want to give my life to Jesus,

On the count of three I just want you to lift your hand Nobody's looking around Just for a moment of prayer, concentration and privacy One, The Bible says today is the day of salvation Don't put it off Two If you think this message is for you Three, hold your hand up Just all over the room, anybody Amen, amen, amen Amen, I see you, I see you, Hey, we're just going to all pray If you feel comfortable If you raised your hand specifically I just want you to repeat this after me Say, dear Jesus, I repent of my sins. I invite you into my life It may feel like it's not much But you thought it was worth dying for. I believe you died and I believe you rose, giving me access to eternal life. I don't know what it all means, but I'm grateful we get to do it together. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey, listen, first of all, can we just celebrate? We have five salvations in the room. That will never get old to me Seeing hands go up all over the room Will never

get old to me I'm not here to embarrass you I'm just here to tell you that I'm proud of you And let me be the first to welcome you Not just to the family that's in here But our eternal family I just want you to continue to walk with us Grow with us Ask good questions Send good emails, You can start a devotion plan in a Bible app You can download it It's completely free But I think this journey and the decision you made It is the best one you'll ever make in your entire life. I just hope that you get some rest now. I hope you get some peace. And I hope that you keep taking the little that you have and putting it in the hands of God. And I'm just grateful that I get to be a part of this journey with you. So thank you so much for letting me be here. And I love y'all. And I hope that y'all have a great morning. Amen? Amen, amen.