Do more with less

Everyone has heard the story of the boy with five loaves and two fishes.  Here is the text found in John 6:

5 Jesus looked up and saw the large crowd coming toward him. He asked Philip, “Where will we buy food to feed these people?”

6 Jesus said this to test him, for he already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip replied, “More than a half year’s salary worth of food wouldn’t be enough for each person to have even a little bit.”
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said,

9 ”A youth here has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that for a crowd like this?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there. They sat down, about five thousand of them.11 Then Jesus took the bread. When he had given thanks, he distributed it to those who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, each getting as much as they wanted.12 When they had plenty to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces, so that nothing will be wasted.”

13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that had been left over by those who had eaten.

It seems that in verse nine, Andrew gives a ridiculous solution to what he feels is a ridiculous situation from Jesus.

God is looking for a generous and opportunistic people, so that He may use them.

Philip and Andrew were looking at this God-sized problem with rationality.  I don’t think they were really willing to give up eight months of wages to help feed these people.  This was eight months of wages so that they can go on living their own lives.  They thought, “Why blow these wages on this one moment when you aren’t going to solve the problem anyway?  You can give them everything you have and still leave people unsatisfied.”

The disciples say, “Here’s what we have Jesus,” but they don’t offer it.  Instead they offer what the boy has; the five loaves and two fish. (verse 8-9)

We have to stop looking at our own resources and telling God that this problem can’t be solved.  This is a change of thinking that has to happen.

Here is my thought from this passage:  God did more with the person who had less.

Sometimes we think God can only use the person with “eight months worth of wages” to solve a problem.  A person with all of the resources.  All of the talent.  All of the skill.

We have to shift our thinking that we must have more to do more, and begin to trust God that He can still do more with less.

When God casts a vision into your soul, you won’t feel like you have eight months of wages.  You will only feel like you have five loaves and two fish.  And you feel God asking you to help make a difference in the world is so absurd that it just may be possible.

Trust God with whatever you have.  No matter how small, it can be great.