Matt.14:19 – And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if one of the disciples just stuffed the bread and fish into their mouth when the bread and fish were placed in his hands by the Lord?
Surely at least one of them thought about it; I may have considered it myself. I guess there were just too many eyes on everyone to fall into that trap. Apparently the miracle happened in the distribution of the food. It was a miracle that just kept happening again and again. That’s how it is with the Lord. His goodness and His provision are endless; He just keeps supplying over and over again. The provision of the Lord and the ministry giftings are similar. They are both activated and sustained when they are put to use. Cramming the bread and fish in your mouth or sitting on your giftings is a sure way to stop the flow of God’s provision. Here is how the early church father Hilary of Poitiers describes this miracle.
“Five loaves are then set before the multitude, and broken. While the apostles are dividing them, a succession of newly created portions passes—they cannot tell how—through their hands. The loaf which they are dividing does not grow smaller and yet their hands are continually full of the pieces. The speed of the process baffles the sight. You follow with the eye a hand full of portions, and in the meantime you see that the contents of the other hand are not diminished. And all the while the heap of pieces grows. The servers are busy at their task, the eaters hard at work at theirs. The hungry are satisfied and the fragments fill twelve baskets. Neither sight nor any of the other senses can discover how such an amazing miracle happened. What did not exist was created; what we see passes our understanding. It only remains for us to believe that God can do all things.”
We live in interesting times. The desolate world is filled with people who need both natural and spiritual provision. The Lord is in search of hands to use to multiply His fish and bread. Maybe He can use your hands in our needy world.
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