When I think of the word faith, the passage I immediately think of is the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. I know this story is usually one people use to show the greatness of Jesus' compassion, but when I was reading it a few years ago, something new stuck out to me. I realized how important the faith of the disciples was at that moment. They had so much faith and trust in Jesus that they were willing to start walking around with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Without their faith that Jesus would perform a miracle, I think that story would have looked a lot different.
I do not know about you, but if someone asked me to help feed a crowd with that little food, I am not sure I could take that leap. After all, how foolish would I look handing out that little food? So often, our faith gets hindered by how we think others will perceive us. Or it can be hindered by trying to come up with our own solutions. Thinking “Maybe I should order take out” or “I’ll send someone with some money to buy more food,” but I think the power in this story is not only Jesus multiplying food, but the disciples taking that small amount of food and choosing to pass it out.
I believe God often uses us in the same way. He gives us something small and essentially asks, “Do you believe I can do what I told you I would?” I know that for me, sometimes it feels hard to have the faith that would take something small and trust God would do something big with it without wanting to over-analyze it. The importance of faith is doing what the disciples did. Trusting that God will use whatever God has given to you.
I encourage you to go back and read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in John chapter 6, but this time focus on the disciples and how you think you would have felt in their shoes. God often equips us with the things we need, but I think what freezes us is believing that He did not give us the right amount. My question for you is, what is the bread God has trusted you with to hand out? And do you have the faith that God will use it?
Ashlee Frazier
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