What Am I Among So Many?

I've been pondering the Feeding of the Five Thousand in the New Testament, and I wanted to record what I have been learning.

My favorite account of this is in John 6:5-14.

The Question: Jesus asked Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" Jesus knew they only had 200 pennyworth, but He didn't ask the question because He didn't know the answer. Verse 6 says, "And this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do."

Sometimes the Lord asks us questions that do not have logical explanations, but when you ponder the answer to that question, you see that the answer is in His matchless power.

Out of Small and Simple Things: The bread and fish that are now famous, didn't come from a king or a ruler--or even from one of the disciples. They came from "a lad." My favorite part of verse 9 says that the boy "hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes:; but what are they among so many?"

What are they among so many?

Now that we know the answer to that question, it seems silly and short-sighted that a disciple would even ASK that question. They knew of the Lord's mission and His divinity. Did they doubt that He could defy logic and feed the multitude with just a small amount of food?

The question seems less silly when when we realize that WE ask that every day. We have been placed here to do an important work--to perform miracles in the name of the Lord--through faith with His power. Yet when we look out at all the people with websites, all the movie stars, all the people with tons of money and resources, etc., it's easy to look at our own meager offerings and ask, "What am I among so many?"

YOU are just as powerful to the hungry world as the loaves and fish were to the hungry multitude. YOU have the Spirit of the Lord to go with you, to strengthen you, and to magnify your talents, time, and energy 5,000 fold--and more.

We turn to Him. We prepare ourselves for His blessings (notice that all the people sat down to eat before the abundance of food was apparent?). We give gratitude for what we have, and then we let the Lord enlarge our capacities so that none who come in contact with us will go away hungry.

Sometimes the Lord gives us directions (like in Mark 6:37, He told the disciples "Give ye [the multitude] to eat), and sometimes those directions have no specifics attached. But the Lord is with us to answer our questions and to ask us further questions that invite us to ponder His power.

I know that without the Lord, I am nothing more than a little boy's lunch. But WITH the Lord, I have the capacity to work miracles.

Candy Balls

I keep thinking back to the sweet story in the January 2010 Friend called "The Candy Ball" (p.44). It tells about a little girl named Rachel who sneaked some candy balls out of the pantry, and she went into the upstairs bathroom to eat them. She threw one up in the air and caught it in her mouth, but it went down her throat, and she couldn't breathe.

Her dad was in the hallway, and felt the Spirit tell him his daughter was in trouble, so he ran into the bathroom, and the Spirit told him to pick her up. When he did, the candy popped out of her throat.

I want to always be in tune with the Lord so I can know if my children need ME. This is such a powerful experience, and I'm grateful it was printed. Grace had been reading the Friend, and she said, "Mom, there's a story in here I want you to read." I said, "Okay, well, I'm doing the laundry now. Just leave it out for me." She said, "No. I want you to read it right now." So I dropped the laundry and read it, and it was well worth it! I think it's sweet how Grace felt the Spirit as she read it, too!