Often in our “real” lives, we feel completely inadequate for what lies ahead. As Glenn Packiam says below, to that dilemma, God says great, let’s roll!
You give them something to eat. Luke 9:13
READ LUKE 9:11–17
We met every Thursday after he lost his wife in a car accident. Sometimes he came with questions to which no answers exist; sometimes he came with memories he wanted to relive. Over time, he accepted that even though the accident was a result of the brokenness in our world, God could work in the midst of it. A few years later, he taught a class at our church about grief and how to lament well. Soon, he became our go-to guide for people experiencing loss. Sometimes it’s when we don’t feel like we have anything to offer that God takes our “not enough” and makes it “more than enough.”
Jesus told His disciples to give the people something to eat. They’d protested that there was nothing to give; Jesus multiplied their meager supplies and then turned back to the disciples and gave them the bread, as if to say, “I meant it: You give them something to eat!” (Luke 9:13-16). Christ will do the miraculous, but He often chooses to involve us.
Jesus says to us, “Place who you are and what you have in My hands. Your broken life. Your story. Your frailty and your failure, your pain and your suffering. Put it in My hands. You’ll be surprised what I can do with it.” Jesus knows that out of our emptiness, He can bring fullness. Out of our weakness, He can reveal His strength. By Glenn Packiam
REFLECT & PRAY
Dear Jesus, take my “not enough” and make it “more than enough.” Take my pain, my failure, and my frailty, and make it something more.
What brokenness have you experienced? What would it look like to offer that experience to Jesus and ask Him to bring life to others from it?
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Matthew’s account of the feeding of the five thousand suggests Jesus had withdrawn to a solitary place to mourn the death of John the Baptist (14:12-13). But when the crowds followed Him, “he had compassion on them” (v. 14). This demonstrates His self-giving character. He placed His own desires aside to meet the needs of those who came to Him. He said to His disciples, “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13). Imagine how that sounded to them. Jesus wasn’t unaware of their situation; He knew they didn’t have enough food for everyone. Jesus knows what we have and what it will take to accomplish what He’s asking us to do. When we give what we have to Him, He uses it in ways that only He can. J.R. Hudberg
Our Daily Bread - March 10, 2020 - Broken to Be Shared