Miracle Math

JOHN 6:1-14

Have you, like me, faced situations where you wanted to help but lacked the resources to make a real difference? Have you ever felt insignificant - not gifted, talented or powerful enough to make much of an impact? If so, I think this text highlighting the reality that God can do a lot with a little has an encouraging word for us.

In verses five through seven, Jesus probes Phillip's faith by asking him where they can buy bread to feed everyone. Phillip immediately starts doing the math and delivers his discouraging assessment that it would take six or more months' wages to give everyone even a little. There are at least a couple of things to notice here. One - Jesus already knows the plans He has for them, and two - He is not yet revealing them in order to probe and reveal the state of Phillip's faith. Whatever situation we face, God already knows His plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), though He may very well wait until we reach our current faith limits to reveal it. Often times, we would like to have the resources we need to serve others nailed down and stored up on the front end, because frankly that does not require us to keep exercising faith, but God is always working to grow our faith in His faithfulness (1 Peter 1:6-7) and times His provision accordingly.

Next, Jesus vividly demonstrates both His mastery over the physical creation and the reality that we do not need to simply look at our available resources and divide them by the need in front of us to determine how much ministry is possible. With God all things are possible, and He is more than able to do abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21)! Five barley loaves and two fish is not much in a young boy's hands, but in Jesus' hands it is more than enough to feed thousands and leave a dozen baskets of leftovers. This is not a miracle of transformation, such as water to wine. It is simply a miracle of multiplication - of doing a lot with a little. It is whose hands the little is in that makes all the difference. Our limited time, talents and treasures often look very insufficient to meet the needs at hand, but in God's hands our little becomes a lot. The key is handing over all we have and all we are to Jesus and letting Him do with us whatever He pleases. Whenever we face a situation that tempts us to feel too insignificant to make a difference, let's remember that God can do a lot with our little!