Faith, Fish and Loaves

Jesus and his disciples were on a distant shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Great crowds of people had followed them to this far off place.  It was an impromptu following on the part of the crowd and no one had thought about how long they would be there or how they planned to eat that day - none that is but two.

"When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?'  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, 'It would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!'Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 'Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?'"(Jn 6:5-9).

Of the thousands there that day only Jesus and a little boy had thought about the need for food in advance.  At some point, everyone there would begin o think about it as their stomachs reminded them that it was empty.  Before that, they were content to feast on His words, not thinking about how they would feed their bodies.

The little boy thought about it before he left for he day and was prepared to eat but not prepared to feed a crowd of thousands - or so he thought.  The disciples hadn't given it any thought until now and now they didn't think much of the idea of feeding the multitude.  The people were simply following Jesus and gave no thought to how they would eat.  Jesus, however, thought about their need and he was prepared to feed a crowd of thousands, despite the limited provisions and the distance from everyone's homes (McDonald's hadn't put a franchise there just yet).

"Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish" (v. 11).  There was enough because God's ability to work through us is not limited to our limitations but fortified by our faith.  He can take what little we have to offer and meet great needs with it if only we are willing to offer and others are willing to receive.

You may not think you have enough time or resources or talent to even begin to address the needs of the people around you.  You may have only a few loaves and a couple of fish.  But God is unlimited in his capacity to multiply what you have as you begin to address those needs.

Stop focusing on how little you have to give and start believing in how much God can do with what you've got.  While you may not be able to see how you small amount of whatever can possibly meet the demand, God does see and he is able to do through you what otherwise might be impossible: "What is impossible with man is possible with God" (Lk 18:27).  Jus' Say'n.