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Welcome to our second day of looking together through Matthew 14. We're looking
at the lessons you and I can learn in the feeding of the 5,000. In one of the
gospel, Jesus calls these the lesson of the loaves, the lesson of what happened
when He broke those loaves and fed everybody.

Yesterday, we learned lesson number one, don't measure a problem or a challenge
according to your own abilities. The second lesson is little in the hands of
Jesus becomes much. Little in the hands of Jesus becomes much.

The disciples, as they faced this problem of these thousands of people that
needed to be fed, they had two perspectives they struggled with, both wrong
perspectives, same kind of perspectives that we struggle with. One perspective
was this is impossible because it would take too much. The other perspective was
this is impossible because we have too little.

This is impossible. It would take too much. That's focusing on the problem.

The problem is too big, there's too many people, it's not going to work,
impossible. The other way of having the wrong perspective is thinking it's
impossible because we have too little. That's focusing on yourself.

That's seeing how little you have, it's not going to happen. Jesus' miracle
gives a powerful answer to both of those perspectives. It would take too much.

There's no need that's too great for Jesus. We have too little. Little in the
hands of Jesus becomes much.

So you take your little and you put it in Jesus' hands and you watch what he can
do. Listen to what he did. Verses 18 to 20.

"Bring them here to me," he said, "the loaves and fish. " And he directed the
people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and
looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and he broke the loaves.

Then he gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the people.
And they all ate and were satisfied. When you see this miracle, it reminds you
and I that there are two life-changing questions you have to be asking yourself.

First, what have you decided is too big for God to accomplish? And second, what
have you decided is too little for God to work with? What's too big for God to
accomplish?

There's nothing. So what does God want to do in that area that you thought is
too big for him to accomplish? And what's too little for God to work with?

Nothing. What in your own life have you decided is too little so you haven't
given it to him? You see, we often look at life and we say there's not enough.

There's not enough money, there's not enough time, there's not enough energy. So
we have this phrase in our minds that we say to ourselves. We say, "When I get
more blank, I'm going to blank.

When I get more time, I'm going to do ministry. When I get more energy, I'm
going to spend more time with my kids. When I get more money, I'm going to give
to the Lord.

When I get more confidence, then I'm going to lead. " Well, I've got a secret
for you. You'll never have enough.

The needs are too great and your resources are too small. So you start with the
little that you have and you put that in Jesus' hands. Because it is not your
ability that matters.

You may have heard this. It's important to remember. It's not your ability that
matters, it's your availability.

Because God is able, he is more than able to make up for any lack of ability
that you might have, to maximize the abilities that he has given you. Look at
what Jesus did with five loaves and two fish. Now, I can just imagine Jesus is
praying over these five loaves and two fish in the midst of these thousands of
people.

I can just imagine the disciples feeling during Jesus' prayer. Jesus is praying
and Matthew is like peeking, looking at the loaves and fish, thinking, "That's
pretty meager. " Philip's looking around and he's counting how many people are
there.

Even during this prayer, he's biting his fingernails. Peter, he might be like
sneaking a little bit of one of the loaves because he figures, "There's not
going to be enough. I've got to get a little bit.

" I don't know what they did, but I know that they were struggling with doubt
until God worked this miracle through them. The miracle is so simple. It's
supernatural.

But in one way, it's not spectacular. He just divides the loaves, puts them in
the disciples' hands. They give them to the people.

Everyone is fed. The lesson of this miracle is so simple. You begin with what
you have.

You give it all to Jesus and you let Him do the rest. You let Him do the rest.
That's not the only time that you see this lesson in the Bible.

It is a common theme of how God works. God taking our little and turning it into
His much. You can see it in the life of Gideon in Judges chapter 7.

You can see it in the life of David in 1 Samuel chapter 17. This same pattern
again and again and again is a pattern that we need to understand. Let me just
walk through this pattern of what God does for us.

First, God reduces our resources. When God wants to work in a great way in our
lives, the first thing He does is He reduces our resources. I don't like that,
but it's the way He does it.

It could be financial resources, energy resources, time resources. He reduces
our resources. So in Gideon's case, He took an army of 15,000 down to 300.

In the disciples' case, five loaves, two fish. He reduces our resources to the
point where we realize I can't do it without God's strength. First He reduces
our resources and then He magnifies our need.

That's the second step. We try to ignore the need, but God magnifies the need.
He makes it clear.

Now why doesn't God make our lives easier? Why doesn't He give us more energy,
enough time, all the money that we need? Because then we trust ourselves and not
Him.

So He allows our need to be very evident, and they are for human beings. He
reduces our resources. He magnifies our need, and then comes the faith step.

Someone trusts God with what little they have, whether it's a David with a
Goliath or a Gideon with his armies or a little boy with his lunch. What we want
to do is wait for somebody to show up who has enough to meet the need. It's
never going to happen.

It always starts with somebody who trusts God with the little that they have. In
this case, we learn from the other gospels that it was a little boy who trusted
God. I wish I knew his name, but God often works like this.

Nameless people, untold stories, great glory to God. A miracle starts with
someone deciding to obey God in an ordinary way. Are you willing to do that?

To do something that says in a real way, "I'm depending on God to do this. " God
will use whatever you give Him. He will take it.

He will use it. God likes to use ordinary things to do extraordinary things. He
loves to do this.

God likes to use ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary tasks. It's the way
of God. Someone trusts God with what little they have.

And then comes the next thing. God uses the little that we have to show how
great He is. Now it's interesting.

He doesn't discard what we give Him for something better. "Oh, thanks. I'm going
to throw this away.

Now I'm going to show you what I can do. " No, He uses what little we have to do
something greater. He just didn't throw away the five loaves and the two fish.

He used them to meet everyone's need. And then comes the final step in this
process. God works through us to accomplish His will.

He reduces our resources. He magnifies our needs. Someone trusts God with what
little they have.

He uses what little we have to show how great He is. And then He works through
us to accomplish His will. Jesus handed the disciples the bread, and then those
disciples handed the people the bread.

That's not a bad model for ministry. You take whatever Jesus hands you, and you
hand it off to someone else. He hands you hope.

You take it, and then you hand it to somebody else. He hands you grace. You take
it, and then you hand it to somebody else.

He hands you freedom. You take it, and you hand it to somebody else. He hands
you healing.

You take it, and you hand it to somebody else. He hands you encouragement. You
take it, and you hand it to somebody else.

He hands you peace. You take that and you hand it to somebody else. That's how
He works through our lives.

Let's pray together Jesus, thank You for what You have given us. even though
sometimes it might seem to be little when it comes to the resources of our
lives, the things of our lives. Lord, you can do great things even through what
we see as little.

And so help us to take what you've handed to us and to hand it on to somebody
else. Help us to trust you with what little we have by giving it to you and by
handing it on to somebody else. We pray for the faith to do this today so that
we can live the life that you have for us.

We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Tomorrow we're going to see today one final lesson
about faith from the feeding of the 5,000.