Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” Luke 9:12-13 ESV
I love a good potluck, but don’t you hate it when the concern arises of having enough food to go around? The questions come up of, “should we go grab some Little Caesars?” or “is there a KFC nearby?” Inevitably, nobody ends up running out to get more and, in the end, everyone ends up taking way too much home. The verse above takes this situation to the extreme. The disciples wanted to send people away to eat and come back filled to continue learning later. Instead, Jesus calls on them to feed the crowd, magnifying the food provided in a glorious way.
In a similar way, Jesus works in our lives to magnify our callings. Often, what Jesus puts on our hearts for how we can glorify His Kingdom seems out of reach to us. We feel underequipped, underqualified, and undeserving of the path He set before us. Our prayers often mirror the comments of the disciples, “but Lord, I am only ___. I can only do ___.” We sit and wonder how God will use us in order to fulfill His purpose. It is in these questions that God moves in us and shows that He is capable of more than we can ever imagine and magnifies our talents and gifts to their full potential for His Glory.
We are not called to do this alone. Instead we work alongside others to fill each other as we work to fulfill His purpose in our lives. This week, think about how you can help fill someone else. Maybe start by grabbing coffee or inviting them to dinner, but focus on how to help fill their lives with God’s goodness.
By John Egland
