Five Loaves and Two Fish

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Matthew 14:13-21 

We don't have enough folks often say, whether it is volunteers, church members, monies for program or leadership to make something happen. We live in a hugely abundant world and function with scarcity brains. Either the individual or the community doesn't think there is enough. It's a good excuse to do nothing except hold tight to what we have. Unfortunately, holding tight to what we have never allows for miracles.

Jesus was faced with hungry people and disciples that only saw the lack. They wanted the problem to go away and the people to deal with their own problems. We have felt like those disciples at times, wondering why no one thought ahead, why these foolish people didn't make proper arrangements.  Into the scarcity, fearful brains comes a nudge from God - do the best with what you have. A little boys' lunch become food for thousands. God reminds us that we have been given enough and God will provide the abundance, the enough, if we will just let go and share.

Today I ask God to help me move from scarcity thinking to abundant generosity. May we be one little boy - the catalyst for miracles. May we offer what we have so that God can multiply it for the good of all.