“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five — and two fish.”
MARK 6:38
I have always loved the story of the fish and the loaves. It delights my heart to think that God always uses the least likely to achieve the unimaginable. Who would have thought that a little boy who was not even included in the counting of the five thousand men would provide the ingredients for a miracle that counted so much we are still talking about it today?
When Jesus was preparing to perform a miracle and feed the multitudes, he began by asking the disciples what they had. Like most of us, the disciples saw the enormity of the challenge and the lack of their own resources and thought nothing could be done. Jesus made them examine what they had in their midst because, whether we initially see it or not, the ingredients for a miracle are always within our reach in seed form.
Miracles always begin with recognition of what we do have. We must stop listing all of the things that we do not have as if God is not aware of our limitations. Jesus does not ask what we don’t have; he asks us to recognize what we do have. Jesus does not multiply what we do not recognize.
God had the ingredients for the miracle stored up in the lunchbox of a child. We must remember that miracles are often produced from the things we might not count as useful to God. The miracle in this story began with a packed lunch. Never underestimate what God can and will use in your life if you allow him. Don’t withhold anything from him.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
What do you have in your life that you may have never considered God could use?