moments I ’ m always reminded of the story where Christ fed five thousand people on a hillside . The account is in all four gospels , but Mark gives a detail that the others miss . Understanding that one simple detail , the question Christ asks His friends (“ What do you have ?”), has shifted my entire perspective on ministry .
In biblical times , only the men were counted in a crowd so , if you had five thousand men there must have been at least nine or ten thousand people , adding in women and children . That ’ s an arena-size crowd . Do you think in a crowd of that size the only food available was the little boy ’ s lunch ? I don ’ t think so . I imagine that no one else offered up their food , either because they didn ’ t think it would be enough or they didn ’ t want to share . The only one to give was the little boy with five small barley loaves and two little fish . He gave what was clearly not enough and then Jesus did what only He can do .
It was a miracle on the hillside that day but the principle applies to us as well . We ’ ll never have enough to fulfill all the demands made on us , but that ’ s okay . We ’ re not supposed to have enough . We ’ re supposed to bring what we have , our clearly not enough , to Jesus and ask Him to meet us where we are .
When we give Jesus our not enough He blesses it and breaks it and He feeds His people . Understanding that principle has shifted something deep inside me . I will never have enough to touch the needs of everyone in a crowd , whether it ’ s a crowd of fifty or a crowd of ten thousand but I ’ m not asked to . Jesus simply asked me , “ What do you have ?”
There are so many places where we need the grace of an everyday miracle . Are you struggling as a mom ? Perhaps you have three kids all needing to be at different places at the same time and it ’ s overwhelming . Many days you feel
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