Mark 6:35-38 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five — and two fish.”
In the above circumstance, Jesus asks the disciples to do something that seems nonsensical: You give them (the 5,000) something to eat. Of course, the disciples responded very rationally, very humanly: That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat? The disciples knew Jesus was asking them to fulfill an impossible command. No person, no organization, could immediately feed 5,000 people on the spur of the moment. None of them possessed the money to feed this crowd. The disciples must have felt Jesus was asking them to do something that only a madman would ask them to do. Compounding the disciples angst, Jesus instructed them to take inventory of the amount of food the crowd possessed. This was a bizarre request. Obviously, since this crowd had been with them all day, most of the food they had brought with them would have already been consumed. But his faithful disciples obediently carried out his order and came up with the impressive sum of five loaves of bread and two fish--a meager pittance, considering Jesus was asking them to feed 5,000 hungry people. This must have been a frustrating and confusing time for the disciples, but Jesus was teaching them an important faith lesson: always take inventory of what you have, not what you don't have. Once when the disciples asked Jesus why they could not set a boy free from demon oppression, He said it was because of their lack of faith. He went on to say, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20) Jesus was continually teaching his disciples that faith is what matters most. As the saying goes: little is much when God is in it.
A proper inventory, regardless of the impossibilities of any situation, remains very important. As Christians, walking by faith, we are not to fixate on what we don't have but on what we do have. As the above story develops, we will see God blessing and expanding a small bit of food for the benefit of many. Jesus fully understood the realities of the situation, yet He told the disciples to discover how much food was actually in the possession of the people. They obediently took inventory and came back with a discouraging account, but those five loaves and two fishes eventually fed 5,000 people. In our lives as people of faith, we should always realistically comprehend the situation; but simultaneously, we should know God's power trumps every circumstance. He can make much out of little when we give the situation to him. In our lives, He will do great things when we by faith obey his request: You give them something to eat. God desires that our lives be fruitful. He has given us talents and resources to make our lives fruitful, but we must obey his commandments to love him with all our heart, mind, and strength, and to love others as ourselves. In the above passage because of the reality of the situation, the disciples said, Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. Otherwise, let them fend for themselves. But Jesus said, you feed them, you do good to them, you provide for their needs. You love them as you would want to be loved. He was asking his disciples to put their own lives on hold for the needs of others. They probably were exasperated with Jesus, thinking that this whole situation is out of control and Jesus was asking the impossible; but to their credit, as followers of Christ, they did what Jesus told them to do. By fulfilling Jesus' orders, they saw a miracle that day. The inventory of food was infinitesimal, but God's abundance was beyond belief. We know that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) As the disciples put that faith to the test, they saw a mighty miracle of God!
What we commit to God in our lives can be blessed beyond our imaginations. If we are willing to bless others with the little we have, He will make our lives fruitful for many. Every day Jesus asks us to take inventory of our lives. He asks what we have not what we don't have. In this process we should be careful not to limit Jesus by accentuating what we lack. Instead, we must ask him to bless the realities of our lives, what we do have. If we have only five loaves and two fishes to feed 5,000, then we ask Jesus to bless them for others, that we might use every resource and talent we have for his glory. If we assent to his will in our lives, our lives will be a blessing to many. Living water will pour from our innermost being to bless a sick and dying world. We will be experiencing an abundant life in the eyes of the Lord. None of us are bereft of talents and resources. We all have something to give to the Lord. God gives his children good gifts. Jesus said that if people who are evil give good gifts to their children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him. (Matthew 7:11) Jesus desires for us is to have fruitful lives, even if at times we only have 5 loaves and two fish to feed many. Today, take inventory of your life. Look for the good and ignore the bad. Look for the place where you can share with someone else who is hungering for what you have to give. Take a loaf of bread--the bread of life--and share it with a hungry friend. God will do the rest. He will multiply the offering you share in faith and bless you abundantly. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38)
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