Miracles Start Small

Like all great works of God, the feeding miracle of the 5,000 (John 6:1-15) started simply. It began in some small Judean kitchen with a mother making a small lunch for her young son. Barley loaves were the least expensive kind of bread. In addition, our account specifically says the fish were small (v. 9).

But something in this boy’s heart prompted him to want see Jesus…..He had a small seed of faith which drew him to the living water of Jesus.

He had no idea how big this day would be. Come to think of it, that’s always true of the day when one meets Jesus. Until you actually meet him and let him pour his miraculous life into yours, you have no idea how marvelous the experience can be. We have no idea who Jesus is until we meet him in faith.

This lad could not have understood that this would be the day when he would walk into the pages of history. He didn’t know that of all Jesus’ miracles, this would be the only one that all 4 Gospel writers would feel compelled to include in their accounts of Christ’s life.

For several hours that day, this small boy carried 5 loaves and 2 fish in his shoulder bag, completely unaware that every person he met and thousands beyond his sight, would benefit from its contents.

Understanding God’s possibility and proximity begins with your personal and inner commitment to give something of yourself (even if it’s the tiniest step of faith) as a down payment on receiving from Him.

Now don’t get me wrong. There is nothing you and I can do to “earn” God’s favor. Our salvation cost God’s Son……….We can’t afford grace, no matter how many credit cards we have.

But throughout biblical history, God has offered people an opportunity to “share in the miracle”. God has given us the privilege of seeing our commitments, small as they may be, rewarded by His unlimited supply.

And often, those commitments are born in times of calamity or uncertainty. We run to Him as we sense our need.

Every Miracle Begins With A Problem

When Jesus saw the need on the mountainside (John 6:5-7), he saw the need. He always does. Every miracle begins with an impossible situation. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.

If you don’t have a problem or a sense of need, you don’t need a miracle……..However, if you have a problem and a sense of need – good news – you’re a candidate for a heavenly solution.

Every Problem Has A Solution

With a faith not much stronger than a mustache on a mouse, Andrew brought the meager supplies to Jesus with one of the best straight lines in Scripture: “How far will this go among so many?” (John 6:9) If he only knew.

How often do we face a difficult situation and are tempted to complain to God about our paltry resources: “If only we had more money”, or “If only I had a husband who was more of a spiritual leader”.

Often, we concentrate on our lack of resources and wish we had better luck. But God wants to show that our lack is only the beginning of His abundance. And luck doesn’t have anything to do with a miracle. God wants to show us exactly how far our little will go among so many.

All the while we are concentrating on the problem, God is thinking about the solution. The major truth we learn from our feeding miracle passage (John 6:1-15) is that the key step toward a miracle is turning everything over to Jesus in faith, and let him turn our left outs into leftovers (John 6:10-13). That is what the small boy did.

We are called to yield all of ourselves to the Lord. It has miraculous potential. Little did that small boy realize that you could feed a whole town with that small sack lunch. And it all came from Jesus’ hands.