[312 words]
Jesus went into the desert looking for a place to pray. However, when he and his apostles went ashore they discovered a huge crowd of people. Scripture says that there were about 5000 men. (Counting the women and children, I’m guessing that there were 10,000 or more people.)
After a full day of preaching, the people were hungry but they were in a barren place and the only food was what a boy had taken … five small barley loaves and two small fish. But Jesus took that small amount, blessed it, and started giving it out. The food kept coming and coming until everyone was fed. The leftovers were taken up and saved for another day — 12 baskets-full.
You can find this story in all four gospels (Matthew 14:13-21, Luke 9:10-18, Mark 6:40-44 and John 6:1-21).
This event teaches us many lessons such as how the Lord has compassion on all people, the Lord provides for our needs, the importance of being thankful for what we have, etc. But the biggest lesson that always jumps out at me is this: Focus on what you do have. Do not focus on what you don’t have.
When Jesus told the apostles to feed the crowd the first thing out of their mouths was “we don’t have enough!” Andrew assessed the situation. He told the Lord, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” But Jesus took that small amount and made a great miracle.
Whenever you’re in a tough situation, do NOT focus on what you do NOT have. Assess what you have and ask the Lord to give you the wisdom to start from there. “The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” (James 5:16b).
Larry Fitzgerald
Abilene, TX