Left Over

““There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But they will certainly not be enough for all these people.” “Make the people sit down,” Jesus told them. (There was a lot of grass there.) So all the people sat down; there were about five thousand men. Jesus took the bread, gave thanks to God, and distributed it to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, and they all had as much as they wanted. When they were all full, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces left over; let us not waste a bit.” So they gathered them all and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left over from the five barley loaves which the people had eaten.” ‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭13‬ ‭

I love this story in the Bible. Jesus sees a need and has a plan. His disciples see the need and one says send the need away. Another says, we have a little but not enough. Jesus continues with the plan. No one questions “ why are You having all these people sit down?” We don’t hear the commentators saying “Good idea, they way they don’t use as much energy.” He just makes the request “ have them sit down.”

I am sure what happened next left the disciples talking for days and weeks. Five loaves of bread. Two fish. 5,000 men. Not to mention women and children. It is a lot of mouths to feed. Currently the estimated married population is 64%, so that’s about 3,200 wives. While back in that time, men had more than one wife at times and there were many more children in a family, for ease sake I will go with one wife and 2 children (because I don’t know how you have 0.3 of a child in a family). So if there are 3,200 married couples that have 2 children that would be 6,400. That is 14,600 give or take a few dozen kids per family.

It wasn’t impossible for Jesus. He is the Bread of Life after all. He created the fish; so of course He could multiple them. What caught my attention was the leftovers. Twelve baskets, one for each disciple. He commanded them to gather the left overs, not to waste a bit. If the leftovers were so important, why do we not hear what is done with them?

I have learned through the years, that my little is much when I hand it over to God. The scripture confirms this time and again. The stick in the hand of Moses. The stone in the sling of David. The request of King Solomon for wisdom. The mite in the hand of the widow. The hem in the hand of the woman with the issue of blood.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ ‭

God is always willing to do more than we ask when we put it in His hands. It may not look like we think it should. Philip would have sent the crowd away to meet their own need. Moses asked if Aaron could lead instead. Saul tried to dress David in his armor. Solomon just wanted the wisdom. The disciples looked to the gift of the rich man in his abundance. The doctors had taken all without providing healing for the woman.

I am inclined to try in the natural often before I go to God. If I can do it, I don’t want to bother Him. That is pride. God wants us to put it in His hands and let Him guide our direction. I love these word by Kimberly D. Henderson (and I will share it in part even though the last three go further than my point right now) because they drive home why we need to go to Him first.”

I would have pulled Joseph out. Out of that pit. Out of that prison. Out of that pain. And I would have cheated nations out of the one God would use to deliver them from famine.

I would have pulled David out. Out of Saul’s spear-throwing presence. Out of the caves he hid away in. Out of the pain of rejection. And I would have cheated Israel out of a God-hearted king.

I would have pulled Esther out. Out of being snatched from her only family. Out of being placed in a position she never asked for. Out of the path of a vicious, power-hungry foe. And I would have cheated a people out of the woman God would use to save their very lives.

And I would have pulled Jesus off. Off of the cross. Off of the road that led to suffering and pain. Off of the path that would mean nakedness and beatings, nails and thorns. And I would have cheated the entire world out of a Savior. Out of salvation. Out of an eternity filled with no more suffering and no more pain.

And oh friend. I want to pull you out. I want to change your path. I want to stop your pain. But right now I know I would be wrong. I would be out of line. I would be cheating you and cheating the world out of so much good. Because God knows. He knows the good this pain will produce.

He knows the beauty this hard will grow. He’s watching over you and keeping you even in the midst of this. And He’s promising you that you can trust Him. Even when it all feels like more than you can bear.

So instead of trying to pull you out, I’m lifting you up. I’m kneeling before the Father and I’m asking Him to give you strength. To give you hope. I’m asking Him to protect you and to move you when the time is right. I’m asking Him to help you stay prayerful and discerning. I’m asking Him how I can best love you and be a help to you. And I’m believing He’s going to use your life in powerful and beautiful ways. Ways that will leave your heart grateful and humbly thankful for this road you’ve been on.

https://kdhenderson.wordpress.com/i-would-have-pulled-joseph-out/

I believe that is what looking to God first gives us the insight to do. We see things in the moment, but He knows the whole picture. He knows what needs to happen to produce the growth for the next season of life.

I believe God knew the disciples would need the miracle even more than the crowd. They would need to know when it looked like nothing was available, and things looked impossible that God could not only meet the need but provide left over blessings through it. The would need that in the three days following the crucifixion.

The leftovers though, that is what I want to get back to. Maybe it is the fact that I often give Him my leftovers instead of the best parts of my attention, time and energy. Jesus used the miracle in two other places:

“When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they said to him, “Teacher, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles. Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put his mark of approval on him.”……. “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty.” ‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭25‬-‭27‬, ‭35‬ ‭‬‬

“When the disciples crossed over to the other side of the lake, they forgot to take any bread. Jesus said to them, “Take care; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They started discussing among themselves, “He says this because we didn’t bring any bread.” Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, “Why are you discussing among yourselves about not having any bread? What little faith you have! Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand men? How many baskets did you fill? And what about the seven loaves for the four thousand men? How many baskets did you fill? How is it that you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? Guard yourselves from the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” Then the disciples understood that he was not warning them to guard themselves from the yeast used in bread but from the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭5‬-‭12‬ ‭‬‬

From the little that was offered, there were leftovers. A basket was left for each of the disciples to pick up. Jesus’s leftovers aren’t mere scraps like mine, there is a lesson of faith in the leftovers. When we follow the natural rules, the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, it will never be enough. They added rules, upon rules, upon rules. We are called to walk by faith, not by sight. The leftovers were a result of the little given in faith.

The leftovers were collected after everyone had their fill of food. Jesus was focused on feeding their souls, but knew they needed food in the natural. The disciples were worried about the natural, and completely missed the spiritual. The people came seeking after the natural from Jesus, but He pointed them back to the spiritual, the eternal. When we get focused on the natural we often miss the eternal.

But when we give God our little, we will be amazed with what is left over. In my own life, I think about the times I have served God, which I love doing but at times I feel so insignificant and empty. Often my desire to serve gets overwhelmed by the busyness of being in the helping profession. Serving is usually scheduled, but the emergencies in a hospital or counseling clinic aren’t. I would often find myself drained by the time I made it to church or the nonprofit I volunteered. Yet when I gave what little I had to God, I always left with plenty left over. Regardless of how little I had to offer, He took what I gave, bless it, and provide enough for those I served. He let me gather what was left and used it to feed my weary soul as well as those I served. I believe that Jesus showed this same lesson to His disciples.

Lord, thank You that You multiple the little I have to offer You. I have received many blessings from You and when I give You have always multiplied it back to me. Let me continue to give You all I have as well as gather Your left overs. In Jesus name. Amen