Imagine for a moment that you’ve gone to a festival for a day. It doesn’t matter what kind of festival, but it’s a trek and it turns out to be a longer day than you planned. As the festival wraps up, you begin to prepare to go home, but you’re hungry. The vendors have long run out of food and closed up and the place is remote, there’s no place to stop on your way home. Everyone else seems to be in the same predicament.
The organizer feels bad and tells their staff to feed everyone. They don’t know what to do; there just isn’t enough food for everyone.
That’s okay, you think. You have a few crackers in your bag and once you get on the road, you will share them with your family.
But then, the organizer stands up and gets everyone’s attention: “Sit down, everyone. My staff is going to feed you.”
So, you sit and wait.
Does this story sound familiar? When I think of the miracle of the Feeding of the 5,000, I have always assumed that the miracle was that God provided enough food for everyone, that the loaves and fish were supernaturally multiplied.
The more I’ve sat with this story, the more I’ve wondered if a greater miracle happened. What if the miracle was that the people, for one brief moment, shared what little they had with one another.
Can you even imagine?
Can you imagine sitting in the crowd and pulling out the sleeve of crackers you had and giving it to the strangers? Can you imagine the strangers – 5,000 households – all pulling out the snacks they brought for their own family and offering them up?
Can you imagine that among the group, there was actually an abundance of food?
Often, we would rather believe that God simply took care of it. Why? I’m beginning to think that’s because it requires nothing on our part.
We don’t have to sacrifice. We don’t have to take the risk. We don’t have to have any faith at all that there will be enough for us.
But what if the story is the miracle that we always believed it was?
Someone sacrificed the loaves and fish for the common good.
Jesus took was given and it was multiplied as it was distributed. We don’t get the sense that Jesus blessed it and suddenly it physically multiplied before their eyes, only that what they had went farther than possible.
They didn’t wait until there was enough; they believed that what they had was enough.
This is good news: There is enough!
What if we truly believed there is enough?
- Enough room in heaven
- Enough grace
- Enough time
- Enough love
- Enough money
Perhaps we would be more willing to share.
Read John 6:1-14
- Are you ready to give up your loaves and fish for others?
- Do you believe there is enough?
Image: Photo 150326093 / Abundance © Jcfotografo | Dreamstime.com
Journey Through Scripture 