Refer to slide for Observations of the passage and use it to read alongside below Interpretation/Application.
While this is a very familiar story, it is quite telling how it can also show a different perspective to our stewardship, especially in the midst of God’s calling.
When Jesus told the disciples He felt compassion for the multitude and desired to feed them, their immediate response in verse 4 was that it was not possible with their resources and location. More precisely, they thought that Jesus was making an unreasonable request to them. ‘How can we find enough bread in a desolate place like this? There are way too many people, we could never satisfy them.’ Remember that this was after Jesus had already fed the 5000 with 5 loaves (Mark 6:30-44) and this time there were more loaves and less people. Yet, the disciples still forgot how Jesus had miraculously provided in the past and instead looked to themselves and their lack. After all, when solely looking at their resources and human capabilities, this was a reasonable thing to say: 4000 men – and an undisclosed number of women and children – would require a lot of bread. Even so, Jesus’ response was different.
When they brought the bread before Jesus, He gave thanks for it. While this clearly seemed to be His mealtime custom, the fact He was grateful even for the seven loaves – insignificant in comparison to the number of people being fed – is quite telling. He did not view the loaves as insignificant or take them for granted. After all, it is common when eating a light snack, like a chocolate bar, to omit giving thanks completely due to the size of the meal. Nevertheless, Jesus showed another perspective. Instead of spurning the seven loaves for not being sufficient, He recognised that they had still been provided by God. That God, even with the little, can make it abound for His purposes and will. Having bread in a desolate place is not something to take for granted, even if much more seems needed.
How often do we respond like the disciples? How often do we feel that what we have is not enough to obey God in the things He has put in our hearts? How often do we feel like God is making unreasonable demands on our lives considering our situations? Thoughts like: ‘In my current life circumstances, I do not have enough emotional capacity to deal with these people’, ‘With how my finances are, I cannot afford to be generous with the causes, people and things God has put before me’ or even ‘With how much I have to do, I just can’t spare the time to bless and walk with that brother or sister, or maybe even find time for God’.
In so doing, we disregard what the Lord has already given us while waiting for our resources to match what He is calling us to, but what if they never do? Would He call us to start something He cannot finish? After all, the God who created Heaven and Earth and all things, cannot be held back by a lack of resources He created. And if He is not strapped for resources and still allows us to experience insufficiency perhaps it is to teach us that He is aboundingly sufficient for us, our mission (that He Himself gave) and He is all we might ever need.
When we don’t recognise that all we have is from Him and that He is able to make even the little abound for His purposes, it becomes easy to respond in one of two ways: apathy or overworking. Apathy comes from feeling crushed by the recognition of our perceived insufficiency, while overworking ourselves comes from believing we can somehow make it on our own. Both of these come from a Godless worldview. However, there’s another way. Perhaps all that is really required of us is to give thanks acknowledging what God has already given us, and using it in faith for His purposes, believing His ability to see it through.
Is there anything the Lord has been putting on your heart that you have put off because of circumstances or because it seems too small? Zechariah 4:10 encourages us not to despise small beginnings because the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. He delights to see us take steps of obedience with what we have and can, believing He will see the rest through. What steps can you take to view the world out of gratitude in God’s providence rather than out of lack?