Not Enough

Jesus was teaching a multitude of people as the day began to come to an end. They had been sitting and listening a long time. The disciples suggested to the Lord that he send them away so they could go into the surrounding villages to get food. Jesus suggested that the disciples give them something to eat. They of course looked at each other wondering what He was trying to say to them. Andrew found a lad in the crowd who had 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish. But he remarked…”but what are they among so many?” (John 6:9). Jesus told the disciples to have everyone sit down. He then took the 5 loaves and 2 fish and performed a miracle that fed the whole multitude. Everyone had their fill and the disciples even gathered up 12 baskets of leftovers. What an amazing miracle by our more than enough Savior.

Have you ever lived in the land of “not enough”? The boy’s lunch was not enough. The barrel of meal and cruise of oil from the widow of Zarephath was not enough. Jesus trip to Martha and Mary’s home did not allow enough time to heal Lazarus from his sickness. All too often we feel the painful touch of not enough on our life. Not enough money to pay all the bills. Not enough time to accomplish all I need to do. Not enough strength to get the job done. Not enough wisdom to figure out the next step. Even in our relationship to the Lord we may wonder if we are enough. We allow the cruel words of others to cause us to huddle into the cave of “not enough”. Paul was in one of those desperate moments when he cried out to the Lord in physical pain. The Lord answered back and filled Paul’s “not enough” with an extra supply of His grace (2 Cor. 12:9).

The lad standing next to Andrew did what he could and left the rest up the Lord. The little boy simply placed his “not enough” in the powerful hands of Jesus, and the rest is history. We too will discover that Jesus is always enough.