Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.” The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?” Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.” So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.
Matthew 15:29-39

Dear God, when I read this passage this morning, I just thought about the impossible things in my life. There are a few things I’m thinking about that cause me to just feel overwhelmed and even hopeless. Work situations. Family relationships. Political obstacles within our community. Then there are the politics and situations in our country and the world. But bringing it back down to the level of my life, there are some things on my heart that seem as difficult/impossible to solve as feeding all of those people seemed to the disciples.

I wonder if there is a similar pattern here for me to follow. When the disciples asked, ““Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?” Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” So maybe my incredulity with you is simply being met with the question, “How much do you have to bring to the table?” Perhaps I need to take more stock of what I have and not what I don’t have. I’m going to ruminate on this today. In my family relationships that are strained. In my work situations that seem too big for me to handle. In my spheres of influence. Instead of asking myself what I don’t have, I want to start with what I do have, offer it to you, give thanks, break it, and then step back and watch what you will do with it.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, give me your eyes to see today. Give me your ears to hear. Let me be your hands and voice in this world. And comfort me when I’m in pain.

I pray all of this through Jesus, my Lord,

Amen