Matthew 15.32-38 Mark 8.1-8

Matthew 15:32-38 32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Mark 8:1-8 1 In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, 2 “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 “If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” 4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. 7 They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. 8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

Little is much when God is at work.  There are times when it seems like the tasks at hand are far greater than out abilities to accomplish them.  These are the times we must learn to depend on God and trust Him to use the little we have to do much.  The mission God has given His disciples is to make disciples in all nations.  There are many nations and very few disciples.  It seems to be an impossible task, but God is able to empower those who trust Him to do unimaginable things.  This is a very important concept for every follower of Jesus to understand.  It is impossible for us to do what God has called us to do in our own strength.  Pleasing God, living for God, being transformed by God and serving God are all accomplished through faith in God. 

MASSIVE REQUIREMENTS: What might have started out as one deaf and mute man, suddenly became a massive crowd of people.  Some were locals while others had come great distances to see Jesus, hear His teachings and be healed of their diseases.  The things they were witnessing amazed them and they just ended up staying.  When Jesus looked up and saw the size of the crowd and realized they had been there for three days with nothing to eat; He had compassion on them.  He called His disciples and communicated His purpose was to feed them because He was afraid that they might faint on their way home if He sent them away without food.  Jesus saw the need, felt compassion and communicated His purpose to His disciples.  This is the same process that happens as God looks at the nations of the world that don’t have access to the Gospel.  He loves them, has compassion on them and then calls us to go and tell them of His love and provision through Jesus Christ.  The task at hand is massive and can be overwhelming, but the size of the task should help us learn to depend on Him.

MINIMAL RESOURCES: When the disciples hear that Jesus plans to feed the people, the immediately begin to question the practicality of such a task.  They are in a desolate place with very few resources.  There is not a local bakery and even if there were a bakery, they didn’t have the money to buy bread for this number of people.  Jesus simply asks them what they have and it is only seven small loaves of bread and a few small fish.  This sounds all too familiar because the disciples found themselves in very similar circumstances with an even larger crowd and even fewer resources not too long ago.  God’s faithfulness and power in the past should generate great confidence in us at the present as well as faith for the future.  When we look at the mission to which we have been called.  Not just the general mission of reaching all the nations, but the specific mission in which we are engaged; It is easy to become overwhelmed.  When we look at our own limitations the task seems impossible.  That is exactly how God wants us to feel.  Because it requires us to depend on Him and trust Him to do the work. 

MAXIMUM RESULTS: Jesus takes the seven loaves, tells the disciples to have the people sit down, blesses the meal and gives the disciples the food to distribute.  Once all of the four-thousand men plus all the women and children have eaten their full, the disciples gather up the left-overs.  The seven loaves fed the massive crowd and there were seven baskets of food left-over.  God’s ability to supply is limitless.  There is no power shortage with Him.  Seven loaves can feed seven-thousand and become seven baskets.  As we go out to serve and obey the Lord we must remember His power and have faith in Him.  He is the Lord of the mission and calls us to faithfully serve.  The results are in His hands.  We might not all have the same experiences in the results we see but that is not our calling.  We are simply told to trust Him and serve Him faithfully to the best of our ability.  No matter how little that ability may be, In God’s hands it can bring about massive results.

APPLICATION: Don’t allow the size of the task at hand to overwhelm us.  Trust God to enable us to do the work He has called us to accomplish.  Don’t worry about the limitations of our skills or the lack of resources at our disposal.  Understand that the final results are in God’s hands and not our own.  We are instruments in His hands and He is able to do amazing things in and through us as we rely on Him.