“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” Matthew 14:14-21
Jesus the omniscient knew every need, and was generous in meeting many of them to illustrate deeper truth about His ability to redeem, heal, and satisfy. Having spent the day expending Himself on behalf of others, He zeroed in on His inner circle to stretch their nascent faith. When He told them to feed the crowds, they resigned to impossibility: they had ‘only’ a small amount. But brought to Jesus for blessing, it was more than enough.
We have such warped perspective on the things of God. We get confused by crowds of noise and needing. We get entrenched in the world’s measurements, misplaced priorities, and the allure of wants morphed into needs. Wrapped up in demands of pressing urgencies and maintaining, we can recoil when the Lord asks something of us. Our skills, our time, our coffers are inadequate. How could we possibly meet His expectation?
The Lord is always purposeful in His commands, working in us what is pleasing and produces fruit. He knows what we need and how He will provide, and engages our faith and obedience so we experience His gracious sufficiency. We think we do not have enough, and He meets our doubts with ‘I know you don’t, but I do.’ He is constantly pushing us to see more clearly, think more loftily, trust more deeply. How are we responding to the opportunities He sets before us? (Matthew 6:7-8; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 2:13; 4:19)
What has God asked of us that we’ve turned down due to feelings of inadequacy or insufficiency? What ‘onlys’, what doubts, selfishness, fear of loss, or insecurities keep us from seizing occasions to serve and give? Where are we making excuses for disobedience, when in fact the Lord is calling us to greater faith?
The Lord is faithful to meet our limited assessments with grace and patience. At every delay and stumble, He spurs us on. When we trustingly hand over our little, He multiplies it to abundance for the good of many. For what ‘more than we can imagine’ will we trust, and thank, Him today? (Luke 6:38; Ephesians 3:20-21)
“What want shall not our God supply
From his redundant stores?
What streams of mercy from on high
An arm almighty pours!” ~Philip Doddridge (1702-1951)
Lord, take all of me, for You, Your purposes, Your glory.
As the rain and snow 