Last night, my son was reading from his
Goodnight Warrior Devotional Bible before we said our prayers. The story was from
John 6:3-13. It's about the boy who shared his five loaves and two fish with Jesus so that he could feed a crowd of 5,000. I'm sure most of us have heard the story before. However, I think we've heard it so much that we forget just how deep that story is!
For some reason, it resonated with me in a whole new way. I paused to think about it in a more modern aspect for a minute. When we have holidays or special family gatherings, there is a LOT of work that goes into food preparation. You not only have to have money to buy all of the food, but you have to prepare it all and estimate how much you'll be able to feed. Having too much is always better than not having enough (and leftovers are usually a plus). Now, imagine that you have to prepare food for more than just a small family. Think about having to buy and prepare food for several families; enough to feed a small city! In my case, that would be around HALF of my city (our population is roughly 10,000). It is mind-blowing to think of feeding that many people! I could never afford to buy enough food for ONE MEAL to feed THAT many people; let alone prepare it all! To do that would take an act of God!!
An act of God; that's exactly what happened in the Bible passage. The disciples were stunned at Jesus' suggestion that they should feed all those people! Philip told Jesus that it would take over half a year's worth of a person's income just to be able to buy enough bread for everyone to have a SMALL piece! Can you imagine the panic the disciples could have felt? How could they afford to feed the people? Would they even be able to find THAT much bread nearby to buy even if they could? It seemed like an impossible dilemma!
Of course, God always makes the impossible possible (
Matthew 19:26)! Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, that a young boy unselfishly offered to the Lord, to feed everyone! What a kind act and statement of faith! Can you visualize opening your pantry and giving what sparse food supplies you had to feed half of your city? I wonder what went through that boy's mind. I wonder if he already had the faith to know that Jesus would do something amazing with it or if he just simply had an attitude of "well, it's not much, but maybe it will help." Either way, Jesus took it and multiplied it! Not only did everyone eat until they were satisfied, but they had TWELVE baskets of food leftover!! That is BEYOND amazing!
When I let all of this soak in, I thought a bit more about how this applied to me. Sometimes, I feel like what I have to offer isn't "enough". I always find myself wishing I could do more for God and others. I think "if I had more money, I could give so much more to help" or "I wish I could donate more time or goods to worthy charities." What an apathetic attitude and a poor reason to maybe not even give at all just because we can't give as much as we would like! Where is our faith?! We have to remember that God blesses EVERYTHING and MULTIPLIES it beyond what we can see or comprehend! Every donation of your time, money, food and goods, and even your prayers, hugs, smiles, and every act of kindness MATTERS! He takes it all and does wonders with it! We have no idea how many lives we are touching and how many people are being blessed in everything that that we share! Jesus said that even
a widow's two copper coins are worth more than the excess of the rich.
Grace and peace to you, my friends! Watch the video below. It's a classic song that reminds us all that everything we do unto the Lord makes an impact! We may not even know it while we live on earth, but in heaven, we will finally understand! I can't even begin to list all the "little things" that people have said or done for me that have meant SO MUCH and have stuck in my mind and heart over the years. They have no idea the degree of an impact they have had on me; even if I try to express it to them! Likewise, I may never fully know the kind of effect I have on others. I smile at people. I'm friendly and polite. I do whatever I can to make others around me feel encouraged and blessed (that's one of the many reasons I blog too!). Every time I have ever had someone say "I needed to read that today" or "thank you for the hug" or "your smile made my day" or I see that someone or something I've prayed for is improving, I feel so blessed inside! IT MATTERS to them and it matters to God! Do everything unto the Lord (
Colossians 3:23-24)! Who knows how many people you're reaching (and the ripple effect it causes!). You could be impacting way beyond 5,000! Think about it! Be infused! God bless you!!
The ripple effect. It's when something small turns into something HUGE! Sometimes it's intentional. Other times, it's a complete surprise. Whatever the case, the result is a tremendous impact that can't be undone!