21 Day Challenge – Day 13
Feeding the Five Thousand | Kayla Beverage
Scripture: Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Observation
Thousands of people came from miles away to see this man called Jesus. I’m sure many of them were His followers and even more where just curious to see the man that they had heard so much about. When he sees all these people gathered and notices that it is getting late, he could have just sent them away. It really wasn’t his responsibility to feed all of those people. Instead, he shows them compassion. He uses the opportunity to serve them and to demonstrate the character of God. All the disciples and the people had to do was trust that He would provide for them.
I’m sure that many of the men and women were worried. With families to feed and children to care for, how could they not be? Some were probably devising a plan to find food and figure out what they were going to do. That’s human nature. We see problems and then we do everything we can to fix. 5,000 plus people and all they had was 5 loaves and 2 fish. That is a major problem. They simply needed more food then what they had available to them, but Jesus blessed what had been given and God provided.
Application
When we read about Jesus and this miracle he performs, how can we not be in awe of God greatness. He fed 5,000 men plus all of those men’s women and children off 5 loaves and 2 fishes. They even had leftovers!
If they could trust Jesus with such an insurmountable task, why can’t we trust Him with our own lives and our own problems? Through this story Jesus gives us a clear picture that he is trustworthy, that he does what he says he is going to do. Give your worries and trust to God and He will provide for you. Things may not do things according to your plan or in your timeframe, but He is trustworthy to those who are faithful.
Prayer
God,
Please help me to trust you with my worries and problems. Help me to know that you will provide for me. You are worthy of my faith. You are worthy of my love. Thank you so much for everything that you have already given me.
Amen.