Not Enough

This devotional considers John 6:1-15 and Matthew 14:13-21.

Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? Jesus asked Philip this question after seeing a large crowd coming to where he was. What a question.

It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite! What an honest answer.

Obviously Jesus knew that they didn’t have enough money to feed these people. Also, this was unexpected—no time for planning how to raise the needed funds. No time to establish an organization and get others to partner in the feeding program. There was not enough money, time, understanding or even faith. Philip and the disciples had never been here before.

Here is a boy with five loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? Andrew tried to meet Jesus where he was but fell short in the face of the impossible. Maybe that’s not so fair to say because we know the end of the story: Jesus miraculously fed 5000 men, that is, not counting women and children. 

It amazes me how many people are pursuing their dreams during this pandemic. At time of crisis and uncertainty about where the next pay check is coming from, there is so much faith to go, to provide, to become in the face of “not enough.” Who has half a year’s wages at their disposal, whether in the time of Jesus on earth, or now to meet the needs of others, and without time to even prepare? 

Yet, Jesus called then and calls now for us to look up to Heaven, give thanks and break what we do have at our disposal—to consciously take hold of the “not enough,” and distribute it to people who have need of it.

Be encouraged today if you have stepped out already and still fearful. Be encouraged if you want to take a step but are hesitating because God has asked you a question with an impossible answer. Meditate on the accounts of Jesus feeding the 5000 and listen for the Lord’s instructions. My prayer is to see the Lord’s miraculous ways unfold before us all. 

Amen.