Dianne Barker here spreading encouragement. I’m wondering…what’s in your hands? Only a few loaves of bread and some small fish? You’re thinking…these won’t be enough to feed a hungry crowd. In your hands, inadequate. But in Jesus’ hands, more than enough.
A little boy gave Jesus what he had—five loaves of bread and two small fish—and Jesus did something amazing. In his hands that meager lunch fed over 5,000 people, with twelve baskets of fragments left over (John 6:1-13).
So what, if you received only one or two small loaves? They seem insignificant, but who knows how many these will feed if placed in Jesus’ hands?
God has a purpose for our lives: to glorify him. And he has gifted us to do the work he created us to do. The task seems large and what we have to offer, very small. Remember this. If he could use a young boy’s meager lunch to feed more than 5,000, he’s quite able to use our feeble gift in his great plan.
The Lord told the story of a man preparing for a long journey (Matthew 25:14-30). He entrusted his property to three servants. One received five talents (The Amplified Bible notes this was about $5,000). To another servant he gave two talents, and to the third, only one.
The first two servants invested what they received, and each doubled the value. The other man, afraid to take a risk, dug a hole and buried his single talent.
When their master returned, he praised the two productive servants for being faithful and trustworthy and rewarded them with more responsibility. The third servant had some explaining to do.
“Master, I knew you to be a harsh and hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you had not winnowed [the grain]. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is your own.”
The master called him a “wicked and lazy and idle servant.”
“You should have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received what was my own with interest.” He ordered the one talent taken away and given to the one who had ten. The fearful servant lost everything because he didn’t use what he had. He could have doubled it…perhaps again and again.
“For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will be furnished richly so that he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.”
Do you have only one talent? Only one loaf? Don’t squander what you have. Give it to Jesus and watch him multiply it to feed the hungry crowd you’re called to serve.
Dianne Barker is a speaker, radio host, and author of 11 books, including the best-selling Twice Pardoned. She’s a member of Christian Authors Network, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and Christian Women in Media Association. Visit www.diannebarker.com.
