You give them something to eat.

So it’s COVID-19. We’re stuck in quarantine and it’s weird. It’s been about a month and no one really knows when the end will be. Life feels pretty weird overall and it’s easy to feel helpless.

I’m thankful for technology and social media that can keep people connected but after awhile it’s easy to feel like posting about Jesus and everything just still isn’t enough. There are still places to volunteer and make a difference but there’s a weird line of not knowing if it’s okay to actually go those places or not. It’s weird. I keep finding myself thinking I’m following all the protocols and then realizing maybe I’m not, and maybe I’m being foolish still. It’s been a while but I still don’t always know quite what to make of it.

The other day I was reading Mark. I got to the story where Jesus feeds the 5,000. I’ve heard the story a thousand times. Sometimes growing up in the church it’s easy to have stories blur together and just look at Jesus’ miracles as miracles and not allow the spirit to take me deeper.

But then I got to this part. “By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’

But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.'”

That hit me so hard when I read it. It was like Jesus was saying it right to me. It was kind of an outlandish request on his part, I’m sure the disciples didn’t really know what to think. Jesus, the son of God, was literally in their midst and he still looked at them and told them to give them something to eat. And doesn’t that apply so perfectly to right now? We have a world that is confused and doesn’t know what to make of all of this. And Jesus is saying “you give them something to eat”.

And then the disciples respond and say “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

“How many loaves do you have?” He asked, “go and see.” 

Jesus tells them to go get the small resources that they have and then he multiplies it. It hit me so hard. Jesus is telling us to go feed the world, and when we don’t have enough he multiplies it. We can’t miss this. I want to challenge you all do go and see what you have, give it to the Lord, and let him multiply it. There’s a hungry world that doesn’t have all that much to hope in right now, but Jesus can multiply the small resources we have to bring that hope.