Little Is Much – Five Loaves And Two Fishes
Steph Nickel adds a modern perspective to the story of the five loaves and two fishes, explaining that little is more.
Offer To God
Matthew 14:15-21 (ESV) says,
“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.”
Remember what I said last time? We must offer what we have to God—whether it’s little or much. This is what this young man did. He offered his five loaves and two fish to the disciples to, in turn, offer to the Lord.
Seriously? As I understand it, these loaves were very small. It was likely only enough to feed one. And here he was, giving away his lunch. What good could it possibly do?
Well, little really is much if God is in it. And God was certainly in it.
Five Loaves and Two Fishes
Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking when Jesus said, “The crowd doesn’t need to go away. You can feed them.”
Yeah, right! Feed 5,000 men plus women and children, possibly close to 20,000 people.
Five loaves. Two fish.
Jesus looked up to heaven and said a blessing—and the miraculous happened. The disciples kept handing out the food and it didn’t run out. In fact, after everyone ate as much as they wanted the disciples picked up basketsful of leftovers.
Can God Still Perform Miracles
Can God still perform miracles? Absolutely. Does He do so? I believe He does. But I also believe that we will not recognize many of these miracles this side of heaven.
A few days ago I mentioned the far-reaching effects of kind and encouraging words. We will likely never know how big a difference those words had on the person to whom we spoke them, never mind the indirect effect they had on others.
And yesterday we discussed the fact that God can bless others through us even if we have only a little. God may use our apparently insignificant efforts to accomplish big things.
Keep Our Spiritual Eyes Open
We must keep our physical and spiritual eyes open. Every day will present opportunities to give of ourselves and our resources. But that’s not all.
Are we among the hungry masses? Some of you may be hungry for food and other basic necessities of life. But an even more pervasive hunger is spiritual hunger, a hunger for truth, for meaning, for love. It is so tempting to satiate our hunger by our own efforts. And yet, God’s ways are infinitely better—and will last for all eternity.
Who are we in the story? Are we followers of Jesus wondering just how He’s going to meet the needs of the masses? Do we feel completely inadequate to do anything about it? Are we among the masses? Have we come to Jesus to have our needs met only to wonder, “What’s next?” Are we the young man in the story? Do we look at what we have to offer—material possessions, skill, time, whatever—and think, “What good is it in the face of such great need?”
Categories
It’s likely we fall into all these categories to one degree or another.
Do we have a little faith? Like the desperate father said when he asked Jesus to heal his son in Mark 9:24, may we pray, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
Do we have a little to offer the Lord, to offer others? We must offer it.
Do we have a need—little or great? We can count on the One who is able to take the seemingly small efforts of others and pour out great and abundant blessings. We must also keep our eye out for His answer. I’m sure the crowds didn’t expect their hungry bellies to be filled as the result of a miracle.
Let’s forever and always remember that little is much when God is in it.
What a great example we can set for our children as we look to God when we’re in need, as we offer even the little we have to bring Him honour and glory and to bless others.
Children often feel they are too young, too insignificant to be of any real help. What a joy it would be for us as parents to see them offer to give of their belongings, their time, and their prayers to reach out to others! And when they do so without our prompting . . . Wow!
Can you remember a time that God provided for you when you needed Him? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Steph Nickel
Steph Beth Nickel is eclectically interested and eclectically involved. In all she does, Steph seeks to nurture and inspire.
She is currently working on the first book in a nonfiction series. Nurture and Inspire LOVE is a compilation of the first devotionals she wrote for HopeStreamRadio.
Steph is a prolific freelance writer and editor. She is the coauthor of Paralympian Deb Willows’ award-winning memoir, Living Beyond My Circumstances, published by Castle Quay Books. Deb and Steph are working on a follow-up book.
You can visit her website, stephbethnickel.com, to learn more about her.
Visit Steph’s contributor’s page or at Steph Nickel’s Eclectic Interests.
More Podcasts to Enjoy:
More Blogs
How to Pray, Read and Study the Bible
No Other God’s – Ten Commandments
Images Courtesy of:
Feeding the 5,000 – James Tissot
Jesus Feeds 5,000 – Coptic Icon
Leave a Reply