In the fourteenth chapter of Matthew we read a story about Jesus teaching the masses in a desolate place. He had actually attempted to withdraw from the massive crowds that were gathering to hear His teaching, but to no avail. A great crowd poured out of the towns and villages to hear this radical new Rabbi teach from the Law and Prophets.
Many were sick and possessed of evil spirits and Matthew tells us that despite His desire for a little alone time, he had great compassion for them and healed them. The official number recorded by Matthew was around 5000 persons, but scholars tell us that since only men were counted in that culture, the actual number was likely much greater.
Late in the day, the disciples came to Jesus, enjoining him to send the people away because it was getting late and in their excitement to follow Jesus they had made no provision for food. Jesus’ response was shocking to the disciples as Jesus said, “There is no need to send them away; you give them something to eat.”
The disciples immediately began to draw Jesus’ attention to what they didn’t have. Like the masses, they had not provided for food themselves either. They were immediately thrown into confusion. In an effort to explain to Jesus the complexity of His solution, it became clear that all they could see was their lack . . . their little . . . their shortcomings. They could only see the immense problem in the face of their meager supplies.
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
I don’t have enough.
I don’t have enough money
I don’t have a good enough job
I don’t have a good enough education
IF I ONLY HAD MORE . . . as if Jesus wasn’t fully comprehending the scope of the problem they were facing.
We don’t have enough.
We don’t have enough people
We don’t have enough money
We don’t have enough training
We are too few, too little, too ill equipped.
IF WE ONLY HAD MORE . . . we might be able to do what God has commissioned us to do.
Jesus stopped them in their tracks when He asked, “WHAT DO YOU HAVE?”
“We have only two fish and five biscuits and to be honest, we didn’t even bring that – a little boy brought his lunch – but he is willing to share it.” Leave it to a ten year old boy to remember to pack a lunch, and leave it to the faith of a child to offer it in the face of such a massive need. This little boy reminds us of a powerful truth Jesus gives us: If we will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, we must come like a little child.
Jesus seized upon the moment to teach the disciples a powerful lesson. “Bring it to me.” Then, in the most basic of show and tell demonstrations Jesus did three simple things:
1. He took what he had. He spent not a single moment lamenting over what he didn’t have….not a single second complaining about his lack. He took what he had. Here is a truth –– you cannot do anything with something you don’t have. And yet, our lack is almost always what we are fixed upon. They were standing the presence of the most high God, the One who spoke nature into existence, the bread and water of life and yet, they had nothing.
2. He gave thanks for it. Sometimes we are so focused on what we don’t have, we fail to be grateful for what we do have. He did not cry out and wring His hands in frustration because of their lack. Instead, he held up that little lunch toward Heaven and said, “Thank you.” He was not frustrated by the lack – he was grateful for the smallest of provision.
3. He gave it away. He then broke that tiny lunch into twelve pieces and handed those tiny little insignificant, inadequate, portions to the disciples and gesturing toward the crowds sent the disciples among them to share what they had. Well . . . You know the rest of the story.
Whatever you have….figure out how to bless someone else with it.
Whatever God asks you to do – the answer is in your hand.
Whatever challenges you face – the answer is already in your house.
Despite the enormity of the task, your little is enough in God’s hands to meet enormous needs of those around us.
Do not limit God’s supply by your lack.
Do not make God small by your limitations.
And don’t let your poverty make a miser out of you.
MK Gantt Ministries 
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