A Cup of More Than Enough

"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"...And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."   Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. John 6:9, 11-13 (NKJV)

"If you don't have enough for everyone don't bring it!" How many of us heard this from a teacher in school? How many of us actually obeyed this rule? How many of us still brought our "stuff" and tried to be more stealth in our attempt to hide them from the eagle-eyed teacher because we had no intention of sharing our "just-enough-for-me" goodies? We knew that we didn't have enough for everyone and sharing would mean less for us.

We can see a similar situation as Jesus is ministering to 5,000 plus people in a deserted place near Galilee. They followed Him because of the great works He was doing. They have been there ALL day. They are in need of nourishment. Their only supply line is a boy with two fish and five loaves. Wait! There are 5,000 plus people and their only hope is a little boy with two fish and five loaves? Personally, I find it hard to believe that out of 5,000 plus people only one little boy had food. I am willing to stretch my imagination that a few others had a stash of "goodies" on them yet did not offer it up because they felt it wasn't enough for everyone. The difference between the little boy and the others who may have had food was his willingness to offer up what little he had to Jesus. That "little bit" was miraculously transformed into "more than enough" in the hands of Jesus.

How many times have we withheld our "goodies" because they seem inadequate for the need? We all have "goodies", those gifts and talents the Lord wants to use to bless others. We must be like the little boy and have the courage, willingness, and faith to release them into hands of Jesus. It is fine to acknowledge that the needs we are faced with are too great for human strength to satisfy, that what we have seems inadequate for the job. This is the point we are reminded  that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. Our inadequacies are a proving ground for God to manifest himself as a more than adequate God!

We should never let ourselves or others minimize or marginalize what we bring to the Kingdom table. Our two fish and five loaves may be an encouraging word, a song, a dance or a prayer. It may be administrative gifts to lift the burden of someone else. It may be gifts of service or hospitality or maybe cleaning the kitchen after a service. Maybe it's caring for  someone's child while they are serving. It could be anything. We all have our own version of the two fish and five loaves of bread. The question is are we willing to release them into the hands of the Master to be used to bless others.

When we decide to release our "little bit" it becomes "more than enough". We are then able to be a blessing to others outside of our immediate surroundings, so much so, that we won't even know who was filled by it. The little boy didn't know each and every person whose need was met by his offering. When we trust the Lord with our gifts we can be assured that it will be more than enough to meet the need of the situation and we shall be filled as well. The disciples picked up twelve baskets full of leftovers. That is supernatural, heavenly increase of what was released for the Kingdom. When we release our "goodies" to Jesus, and allow Him to take them, break them as He sees fit, and bless them for kingdom use we will see others being blessed beyond what we can imagine.

Let's encourage ourselves and others in knowing our seemingly inadequate offering to the kingdom has the power to be more than enough in hands of Jesus!

What's in your basket?