Give What You Have

Have you ever noticed someone in need around you and you were hesitant to help because you thought what you had to offer was insignificant?  Did you offer it anyways?  That is what the disciples did in Mark 6:35-44 when they offered Jesus only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to feed 5,000 people.  They identified a need but their resources came up short and they were unable to meet it. The disciples even tried to send the multitudes away to the neighboring villages to eat, before Jesus redirected them and said they were to feed them.

Jesus had a plan.  He knew He was going to take whatever amount of food they had, and then look to His Heavenly Father to bless it and He would supply what was lacking.  Verse 41-42 tells us “And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.”     

Jesus saw something the disciples didn’t.  He knew His Heavenly Father had sufficient resources and if they could only trust Him and give what they had, He would take their insufficiency and make it sufficient. 

What do you have that you feel is insignificant?  Don’t wait for perfection before you offer it up to your Heavenly Father. We are constantly growing and learning and never will be perfect until we are in heaven. 

Often I make this my prayer “Father, I give to you my fish and bread.  Please take and multiply it, and use it to meet the needs of those around me.”  In this prayer, I am offering my gifts, talents, and heart to my Heavenly Father for those that are starving for the bread of life.