Pastor's Pen
by Buzz Dahlen
The Jewish Passover Feast was near.  When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.  Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"  Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,  "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"  Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.  Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.  When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."  So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.  John 6:4-13  The interesting thing it that this story is one of the very few that is told by all four gospel writers.  It must have a very important message for everyone.
Have you ever been in a situation where there was no humanly possible way that your need was going to be met?  Maybe it’s your health, maybe your finances; maybe it’s a need for work, something going on in your marriage or with your children.  Maybe you are single and want to be married or maybe you are in an abusive relationship or maybe you are caught in an addiction.  Whatever the situation, you feel that there is no way you are going to see it get taken care of.
How did you feel when you realized that you were somewhere with no visible way out?  What did you do?  Whom did you reach out to?
That was somewhat the case in the scripture above.  5,000 men, not to mention the women and children.  All of those people in the middle of nowhere and no food, except 5 small loaves and two small fish.  You know the story; everyone was fed with plenty left over.  
As I mentioned, there is a message for all of us.  Hungry people; There is a promise here for us to learn.  If you continue to follow, Jesus will provide for you.  What a comforting thought.  Those who are ministers; Often times when you are in ministry of some sort, the need seems so great.  If you are ministering to peoples needs, God will always supply all that you need.  Faithful giver; If you give all that you have, no matter how much or how little it is, God will take it and use it in big ways.  And, God always give back more than He takes…  Ask yourself, “Who got the leftovers?”  My theory is that the rightful recipient would be the small boy.  
There is also a message to use concerning the definition of being rich.  Rich is defined who provides the most, not by who has the most.  That little boy catered a meal for thousands of people.  I’d say that he was the richest person there.
So how do we apply this for all of the situations that I mentioned earlier?  God knows your need, He knows it before it happens and He has all you need to meet it.  When you are faced with an overwhelming situating, do not over look that humble provision that God has made to come your way.  What must we do?  Pray, “God, please provide for these needs.”  Then watch and see what God has in store for you.  He will provide.  He always has and always will.  We may just not able to see how He is working things out until everything is taken care of…

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