Will there be enough? Will my resources get me through? So often in life, we ask questions like these. We wonder if we’ll have enough in the bank account to cover the bills. We wonder if we’ll be able to cover tuition costs for our children, whether in child care or college. We wonder if our retirement funds will be adequate. Will there be enough?
Over against our anxious concern, Jesus’ multiplication of loaves and fishes that fed 5000 is a story of abundant provision. This is the only miracle of Jesus that is found in all four Gospels:
- Mattew 14:13-21 (Matthew 14:13-21 ESV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Now - Bible Gateway);
- Mark 6:30-44 (Mark 6:30-44 ESV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - The - Bible Gateway);
- Luke 9:10-17 (Luke 9:10-17 ESV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - On - Bible Gateway);
- John 6:1-13 (John 6:1-13 ESV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - After - Bible Gateway).
Take a moment and read through these brief accounts. Each is a little different and has a unique perspective from each Gospel writer in conveying this amazing work of Christ. John’s account is the only one that tells how a little boy willingly shared his lunch of five loaves and two fish that he had brought. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, is recorded as saying to Jesus: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they among so many?” (John 6:9). That about sums it up for us, too, doesn’t it? So often in life, we see only what we do not have. We have to learn again and again that little is much in the hands of Jesus. We see only the end, but it is there – at our end – that it is just the beginning of what Jesus can do.
We live in a culture of abundance. Just walk down any aisle in the grocery store and there is a dizzying number of choices for just about every food and drink imaginable. This truth was driven home to me over the summer when an overseas missionary family came to visit. They live and serve in another part of the world, but it is not a place of food insecurity or need. In speaking with them about their visit, one of the things they commented on about life here in America was all of the choices in the grocery store available to us. They said they could understand how this might lead to “decision paralysis” – a dilemma of our modern world. Too many choices! But even in the abundance that surrounds us in this country, there can be great need. Food deserts are real – all too real – for many. A food desert is an area or region where people have limited access to healthy and affordable food. Sometimes these are in urban areas, but they can also be in others areas as well. If you’re not familiar with what a food desert is, a brief overview can be found at Food deserts: Definition, effects, and solutions (medicalnewstoday.com).
Even in a culture of abundance, there can be scarcity. That, of course, can lead to problems. We may be prone to see life through the lens of scarcity rather than abundance. But scarcity can teach us valuable lessons, and cause us to become better stewards. My parents were products of the Great Depression of the 1930s when scarcity was a very real thing. The Depression-era phrase was, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” Necessity caused people to cut back, look for inexpensive solutions, and make do with what you had. There is wisdom in this for us today! One of the things that I really like about the account of Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 comes in the next to last verse of Mark’s telling of this: “And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish” (Mark 6:43). Nothing was wasted! All of those leftovers from what Jesus had miraculously multiplied would be put to good use feeding people the next time. The end of one meal became the beginning of another. In the compassion of Christ our Savior, who abundantly provides for the needs of his people, we are moved to manage God’s gifts in such a way in order to make the best possible use of them. That is good stewardship, then and now.
Whether we are surrounded by abundance or scarcity, whatever we have, bring it to Jesus. If our resources are meager and lacking, bring it to Jesus. If our resources are more than we need for ourselves, bring it to Jesus. Whatever we have, bring it to Jesus and place it in his nail-pierced hands. Truly, little is much in the hands of Jesus! As He fed 5000 and more people with five loaves and two fish, so He is not limited by what we have or do not have. Nothing is too hard for the Lord (Jeremiah 32:17). If this same Jesus so loved us that He would willingly go to the cross and give his very life there for our salvation, won’t He also give to us what is needed day by day? And so we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread…”
As we consider our own situation in life, whether it is one of abundance or scarcity, let us remember the words of Paul the apostle who encourages us to have the mind of Christ – to see Christ in our neighbor and be Christ to our neighbor:
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:1-11).
Will there be enough? In the abundant provision of our God, we give thanks – thanks for every gift and blessing from his hand. The words of the psalmist remind us: “The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15-16).