Reflecting on Luke 9:10-17
"Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them." (Luke 9:16)I am reflecting on this section again because of these words.
Jesus inspires me with His response to scarcity.
Obviously 5 loaves and 2 fish are not enough for the need.
This is a crisis moment, yet Jesus is not giving in to the crisis.
According to John, Jesus had in mind what He was going to do (John 6:6).
We might assume that Jesus was planning to multiply the bread.
But what He does is actually prepare for God to multiply the bread.
Consider what Jesus does:
* He seats the people
* He takes the bread and fish
* He looks up to God and gives thanks
* He breaks the bread and fish
* He has His disciples distribute the food
Jesus is passive and receptive here, trusting God to help.
He expected a miracle, that God would multiply the scarce resources.
Jesus was fully human in this moment, dependent on God like we are.
He did not have divine power in His fingertips, ready to burst out.
He emptied Himself of divinity to become fully like us (Philippians 2:1-11).
What He did which we do not is fully trust God.
God honours His surrender and faith, and intervenes to help.
Jesus thanks God, even though what He has is not enough.
What do I do when I face an impossible situation with scarce resources?
Do I thank God for what little I have, or only focus on what I lack?
Think back to Adam and Eve, surrounded by the abundance of creation.
Yet the deceiver gets them to focus on what they don’t have – one fruit.
This is how the deceiver shipwrecks us, having us focus on what we lack.
Faith does not deny our weakness and limitations.
Faith looks up, beyond our scarcity, to the abundance of God.
I am often aware of the lack of resources for what I think needs to be done.
I could do so much more, if I had this or if I had that.
The need is too great, and my ability or resources too small.
This kind of perspective will drown and shipwreck us for living.
My focus needs to be on what I do have… including God and Jesus!
If God and Jesus are for us, who or what can be against us?
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:1-32)
I am comforted by Jesus’s example, inspired to focus on God’s abundance.
God may not multiply food exactly like this, but God will multiply something.
Hope, grace, support, caregivers, patience, strength, clarity, wisdom, faith!
But I’ve also seen God multiply resources when I didn’t expect it.
My Food for Haiti initiative, which seemed like a stretch, went beyond my expectation.
I ambitiously set $15,000 as my goal; it currently is at $21,500.
Yet whatever God provided would have been enough… with God.
This is the convicting thought for me: even a little is enough for God.
If I had only reached $5000, would I have still given thanks?
Would I have trusted that God could work with that meagre response?
Would that $5000 not be like 5 loaves and 2 fishes… enough for God?
Do I thank God no matter what I have, even if it is not enough?
I am compelled to change the way I see myself and my situation.
With God I am always enough, and I have what I need to do what I need to do.
The key is looking up and giving thanks!
Yes the storm is great, but God is greater.
Yes the waves are drowning me, but Jesus is walking on the water!
God is at work in and through and around me, for His good purpose.
God is enough, and with God I am too.
What I have is enough, even if it doesn’t seem like it.
God can use this mustard seed to move that mountain.
I want to have an abundance mindset like Jesus.
To see God as enough as I face my impossible situations.
To take what I have, meagre as it is, and to work with it anyway.
And to trust God to do immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, with God and with You is enough. I don't yet know HOW You will use my meagre abilities and resources, only THAT You some will. Thank you for this 'not enough', I will use it by faith, and trust God for the miracle.
Standing on the threshold of a new year, I need to continue to walk with my God. He has blessed me more than I even dared hope for to be a blessing unto others. He has blessed the ministry I volunteer in with abundance as the sign in the store says, ‘May this store always be too small.’ His blessings. His daily ‘bread.’ His provision. His presence. May I throughout the new year continue to walk with Him in the ministry of the thrift store to be a blessing to the Christian School and the local registered charities. I need to always have the upward look rather than the downward look. Come. See, what the Lord God has done.