When I pastored Bethel Church (AG) in Rapid City, South Dakota, I thought our church could not grow because we lacked the necessary resources: money, people, space, time, and an endless list of essentials.

Every time I sensed God stirring us to take a bold step, my first instinct was to calculate how far we were from what we thought we needed. And every time, I came up short. I talked myself out of action.

I spiritualized it, of course. We are being wise, I told myself. But the truth was, I was leading from scarcity. I believed in multiplication, but I wasn’t sure I believed we had the resources to multiply.

Scarcity Thinking

Scarcity thinking doesn’t always shout. Sometimes, it whispers: We’re too small to do that. Let’s wait until the budget catches up. Maybe once we have the right people in place. Let’s grow what we have before we think about more.

These phrases may sound like wisdom, but they’re often fear in disguise — self-imposed limitations that paralyze potential. We assume we need more before we can do more. But that’s not how the kingdom of God operates.

In Matthew 14:13–21, Jesus fed thousands with a boy’s lunch, not after a strategic fundraising campaign. Jesus seized the moment and used what was available. In Luke 9:1–3, He sent out His disciples with “no staff, no bag, no bread, no money,” only authority and faith. And in Matthew 25:14–30, Jesus told a parable about a master who entrusted his servants with talents. The ones who multiplied what they had were rewarded. But the one who buried his talent out of fear was rebuked.

Kingdom math defies logic. It multiplies whatever we’re willing to release. Scarcity says, “Hold back until we’re ready.” Faith says, “Offer what you have and watch God move.”

In 2 Kings 4, the prophet Elisha encounters a widow in crisis. “Tell me,” he asks her, “what do you have in your house?” (verse 2). Elisha immediately directs her attention to what she already has.

It’s a pattern repeated throughout Scripture: Divine multiplication often begins with human surrender.

Consider the story of Moses in Exodus 3–4. Moses keeps offering excuses, but God keeps pointing him back to what’s already in his hand.

Like Elisha before Him, Jesus shows through the miracle of multiplying the bread and fish that God works through what’s available, not what’s ideal.

This principle is echoed in Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times … you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

We never begin with lack. We begin with trust.

The lesson is simple but powerful: God doesn’t start with what we lack. He starts with what we have.

Scarcity to Stewardship

The shift began when we stopped asking, “What don’t we have?” and started asking, “What are we overlooking?”

Instead of resenting what was missing, we began recognizing what was already in our hands:

• Underutilized leaders who simply needed someone to believe in them
• A part-time staff member with untapped potential
• Volunteers with more to give — if only someone would ask
• That building sitting empty most of the week

May the Lord help us see our limitations not as roadblocks, but as invitations to innovate and try new things. May He give us courage to trust Him and to multiply what is already present.

The Greatest Resource

Our greatest resources are not budgets, but people. When we start seeing people as multipliers instead of helpers, everything changes. Helpers fill spots. Multipliers carry vision.

I used to think resource development meant raising money. But I’ve come to realize it is about empowering and releasing disciple makers who are gifted, called, servant-hearted, and full of God-given dreams.

When we invest in people, we multiply ministry. When we equip people, we release exponential impact. We do not need more money to multiply; we need more people stepping into their divine destiny (Romans 8:28–30; 1 Corinthians 12:14).

Empowering Others

One of the clearest reminders of this truth came through the life of Tasha Overall. A military spouse and mother of three, Tasha and her family came to our church looking for hope and healing. As the Lord began restoring their lives, Tasha stepped into serving as our nursery coordinator. It didn’t take long for her gifts to surface. She demonstrated a unique blend of administrative skill and spiritual sensitivity.

Like the church in Antioch that was moved by the Spirit to send out Paul 
and Barnabas (Acts 13:2–3), we sensed that multiplication doesn’t begin with abundance, but obedience.

As she grew, Tasha shadowed my wife, Melanie, in children’s ministry and soon stepped into the role of kids’ pastor. What marked her leadership was not just how Tasha organized programs, but how she reproduced herself. She consistently identified and developed new leaders, ensuring that ministry never rested on her alone.

Eventually, Tasha oversaw kids’ ministry across all seven of our campuses, raising teams and systems that carried the mission far beyond what one person could achieve.

Her influence did not stop there. Tasha joined our executive team and began speaking into the life of the entire organization. She embodied one of our cultural mantras: Work yourself out of a job so God can give you your next assignment.

At every stage, Tasha worked herself up and out of roles by multiplying high-quality leaders who could lead with excellence.

Tasha’s story reminds me that the greatest multiplication movements are not built on budgets, buildings, or even bold strategies. They are built on people.

When people are empowered and released, the Kingdom impact multiplies exponentially.

Tasha’s journey shows what can happen when one person is empowered and released. Yet multiplication isn’t just about individuals; it’s about churches daring to step out in faith with what they already have.

Real-World Multiplication

I will never forget the conversation that started it all: “Would your church consider helping a struggling congregation in Edgemont, South Dakota?”

Edgemont was over 80 miles away and closer to Wyoming than it was to our main campus. The town was small. The church was down to just a few faithful saints. No pastor. No budget. No clear path forward.

From a strategic standpoint, the answer should have been, “No. Too far away, too few people, too fragile a structure.”

But we couldn’t shake the sense that this was a God opportunity. There was no launch team. No formal funding. No pre-built playbook. What we did have were a few willing people and a deep conviction that the gospel still mattered in Edgemont.

Like the church in Antioch that was moved by the Spirit to send out Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:2–3), we sensed that multiplication doesn’t begin with abundance, but obedience.

The church in Antioch was not sending from overflow, but from faith. So we started asking a new set of questions — not “What do we need?” but “What do we already have?”

We had a couple in our church with roots in that region who lit up when we mentioned Edgemont. We had a few staff members who were willing to rotate Sundays and carry the weight until local leaders could be raised up. We had access to a building that had once been in its prime and now awaited a renewed purpose.

It was far from glamorous. But it was real. That launch did not look like a big-city campus rollout. There were no big budgets, slick promos, or buzz — other than town gossip. What we did have was hunger, humility, obedience, and prayer. And for God, that was enough.

Over time, leaders emerged. A sense of community grew. People who had not set foot in church in years started coming. They did not come for the production, because we were simple. They came for God’s presence.

And we learned something foundational: We did not need everything in place for starting this new history. We moved forward with what God had already given us.

Money did not lead the way. Obedience did. And the result was not just a new location; it was a multiplying movement.

The lesson? Provision often follows obedience. The resources show up when we start walking by faith.

Not long ago, my friend Sheldon McGorman, who now serves as superintendent of the North Dakota Ministry Network, was pastoring a vibrant rural church: Watford City Assembly of God. Where others might have seen limitations, Sheldon saw opportunity.

God began stirring Sheldon’s heart to launch another campus. But there was no pristine building, no designated budget, no ideal demographic data to support the move. What they had was a willing team, a clear call from God, and a garage. That’s right. Their newest campus started in a house and a garage.

While many would have waited for better conditions, Sheldon and his team stepped forward with what they had. They trusted that God was already working and simply needed their “yes.”

Not every person will lead a ministry, but everyone can multiply something.

From those humble beginnings, momentum grew. People met Jesus. Lives were transformed. And as obedience turned into movement, something remarkable happened: The church raised over $800,000 in rural North Dakota to meet the needs of their community, because the gospel was expanding.

What started in a garage is now a flourishing church. God is using it to reach people in places others might overlook. It stands as a visible reminder that God doesn’t wait for us to have “enough.” He moves when we offer what we already have in faith.

Sheldon would be the first to say, “To God be the glory.” Because in the Kingdom, fruit does not flow from strategy alone; it flows from surrender.

When we stop waiting for more and start walking in obedience, we find that God has already placed more than enough in our hands.

Four Shifts

Four shifts helped us stop waiting for more and start multiplying what we already had:

1. From shortage to strategy. Instead of focusing on what’s missing, identify what’s underutilized. Maximize spaces, schedules, and people. What’s sitting idle that could be unleashed?

Read Nehemiah 2 and note that, before asking for more, Nehemiah assessed what he had.

2. From fill-the-need to fuel-the-call. Do not just plug holes. Call out gifts. People will rise to the occasion when they’re given purpose and not just a task list (Ephesians 4:11–13).

3. From maintenance to movement. Ask, “Are our resources organized for ease or expansion?” If everything is designed with maintenance in mind, we will never step into what could be.

Growth forces structure to adapt (Acts 6:1–7).

4. From consumers to contributors. Our churches are full of potential. Not every person will lead a ministry, but everyone can multiply something.

Let’s equip them. Empower them. Expect something good from each individual (Ephesians 4:16).

The following table illustrates the thought processes of churches with a scarcity culture versus those with a multiplication culture.

Our resources are already in the room. We do not need to look farther, but closer.

God has already placed something in our hands. It may be small. It may be overlooked. It may be imperfect. But it’s enough to start.

Multiplication does not begin when we get more; it begins when we use what we have already been given.

Let’s take inventory and call out the giftedness in others. Let’s organize what we have with faith — and watch how God breathes on it.

Instead of waiting, let’s start multiplying.

Adapted from Multiplication Mindset: How Spirit-Empowered Leaders Build People, Not Just Platforms (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2026).

This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of Influence magazine.