Jesus taught His disciples to be distributors of His blessing and responders to those in need. He equipped them to represent Him on earth by involving them in the process of performing miracles. In the feeding of the five thousand, the miracle of multiplication didn’t happen when the food left Jesus’ hands, but when it left the disciples’ hands. Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fish, gave the food to the disciples, and they set out to do what seemed impossible: feeding a multitude with a boy’s packed lunch. But as they did it, they experienced the miraculous. When the Lord’s blessing is on what we have, we’ll succeed in spite of the challenges and obstacles we’ll face. God has given each of us something that others need. But sometimes we fail to recognise it, or we doubt that is has any value. So we think, ‘I don’t have what it takes.’ The truth is, we do – but it’s in seed form. Jesus described it this way: ‘First the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head’ (Mark 4:28 NKJV). God has placed something within each of us that He wants us to recognise, nurture, and use for His glory. When He blesses what we have, we’ll be amazed at the potential we’ve got. A miracle began when a boy found an unmet need and decided, ‘These people are hungry and need to be fed. I’m going to give what I have to help.’ That’s also when the disciples discovered what Jesus could do with what they had, even though it looked hopelessly inadequate. So let’s take what God’s blessed us with, and see what miracles He can work when we offer it back to Him to use for His kingdom.

What Now?

Read the story of the feeding of the five thousand. After you’ve read it, take a few moments to offer all your skills and gifts to God and ask Him to use them for His glory.