Joel M Bradshaw

36Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^f worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”–Mark 6, part 2

If we were there as disciples, we would have all thought the same way. It would be a stretch to imagine Jesus expecting his crew to miraculously feed the crowd. But he does seem to picture them trusting God to provide no matter what limitations they had. We know this because he immediately asked what food was present.

I remember years ago being the lone/solo pastor of a small church. We were facing leaner times and it sometimes was a challenge staying encouraged. I preached a sermon one Sunday from this text with the line: God uses what is there. Outreach efforts were struggling. Our attendance numbers were down. But God used our faith and dependance upon him.

Numbers don’t limit what God can do. He used that faithful little church in an amazing way. He led us to a merge with another church and doing so took tremendous faith in God and trusting in his plan. Today, hundreds and hundreds of people are being reached each week at that very location.

We look at the list of names in Hebrews 11 and shake our head. Really, Samson is there? Jephthah? Barak? Gideon? And yet, though their little faith might have resembled a few loaves and fishes, God used what was there. That’s his principle. Jesus didn’t make new food for the crowd. He simply used whatever food was existing. Trust Jesus to work in your life the same way. The sovereign God gets the most glory when he provides for you using the way he has already led you and provided. Bloom where you are planted. Trust God to handle his business.–JMB