When God Multiplies: Lessons from Jesus' multiplication of the five loaves and two fish

My favorite parts of the Bible have to do with Jesus on earth. His life, ministry, death, and resurrection speak volumes about the love and power of God. In today’s post we get to experience such power and clear example of faith as Jesus performed a wonderful multiplication miracle. Throughout the Bible we see several multiplication miracles, miracles that don’t make any mathematical sense and seriously don’t add up. In each of them we get to experience immense faith and the power of God at work. In today’s scripture, Jesus teaches us so many lessons as He uses five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5000 men (note: women and children were not counted) with an excess of twelve baskets of leftovers. Luke 9:16-17: Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.Can we take a step by step look at Jesus’ multiplication miracle? I believe there is a lot to be learnt here. In the physical, mathematical and just taking it at face value, Five loaves of bread and two fish, no matter how huge they are, can never on its own serve 5000 hungry men, let alone women and children. So, it is completely safe to say that this was a definite definite miracle. The first thing to note is that Jesus used what they had, i.e., the five loaves and two fish and multiplied it. The little boy gave the disciples all he had, and the disciples in turn gave all they found to Jesus before the miracle could happen. I believe from here, we can learn that to see the God kind of multiplication and growth in our lives, we need to give God all we have, not hold back and trust Him fully. Some of us, would have properly kept our loaves and fish to our selves because really, what can anyone do with these, when there are about 5000 thousand men to feed. Fortunately for us as children of God, God wants exactly what we have, our time, our resources, our knowledge, our personality our faith, our talents and skills to use for His multiplication miracle in our lives. Are we ready to let go and give God what we have? The next thing Jesus did when He received the five loaves, and two fish was to give thanks. I don’t know the exact words He used in giving thanks or what exactly He was giving thanks for, but I learn the attitude of gratitude from this. HE GAVE THANKS! As people we sometimes want to have everything figured, to have all the money, to be healed or to have all our problems sorted out before we start thanking God. Jesus, before He was able to solve the problem at hand, gave thanks. I have come to the realization that thanksgiving, like many arrows that we have as Christians, is super powerful and a key ammunition for activating God’s blessings in our lives. Thanksgiving is a superior act of faith where we thank God for solving our issues, providing for us and taking care of us before we see a physical manifestation. Try thanksgiving instead of worrying. It allows us to see our miracle before its manifestation and when that happens, we are a step closer to having our needs met. Therefore, as children of God, I encourage us to always give thanks. In the good times and in the bad times, no matter how difficult that may seem. As we give thanks, we are able to come to a place of surrender, where we leave it all, our hearts, our bodies, our mind and everything to God and show Him that we trust Him. Now, after thanksgiving, what we see next is pure faith at work when Jesus broke the bread into pieces and kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to distribute. And this is where the multiplication happened. Wow! He didn’t overthink, didn’t second guess, didn’t over examine. Nope! He gave thanks, knowing that God had sorted it out, broke the bread and gave it to His disciples to distribute. He acted in complete faith and focused on the complete provision of the father without any hint of doubt. He knew it was completely done, after He prayed, no questions asked. Jesus teaches us from here that, as believers, this should be our attitude when we pray or ask for anything from the father. The word of God says, we should ask, and we would receive, Matthew 7:7 and most of us know this scripture off-head but it looks like we’re very far from believing it. Mark 11:24 also says that whatever we ask for in prayer, we should believe that we have received it and it will be ours. Rather than nullify our prayers with doubt, why not back our prayers with faith, believing with our whole heart, like our lives depended on it. God no go shame us, that is one thing I know. It may tarry but at the appointed time, it would come to pass. Habakkuk 2:3. HAVE FAITH! Additionally, as we have faith, that faith needs to be backed by our deeds. Jesus did not just believe that the Father was going to sort Him out, that faith was shown as He broke the bread and distributed it without any doubt. As we trust God to perform a miracle in our lives, we in turn, need to take a step of faith in affirming our receipt of that which we have asked for. God loves us! God is able and willing! God always has our best interest at heart! God wants us to prosper and be well! These are facts and as we move in faith, He would also move in love towards us. BELIEVE THAT! There is something to be learnt also from the distribution and it’s the fact that as children of God, we are blessed to be a blessing to others. Yes, the miracle, was to feed the 5000 but Jesus could have sent them away with the excuse that there was no food available. The disciples even suggested this in Luke 9:12 but Jesus in verse 13 suggested that they rather gave the people something to eat. His compassion as always, was made evident in His desire to take care of the crowd. Here also, Jesus teaches us compassion. Compassion may not come easily to most of us, especially now with the way our world seems, however in one small way or the other, we can help meet a need for someone. A little help can go a long way. Our time, resources, intellect, and energy can help someone else today. One of the very interesting parts of this miracle is THE EXCESS and this shows and exemplifies the excess provision of God. Our God is truly an impossibility specialist and the things He does defy human reasoning completely. An excess of 12 baskets when what you had to begin with, could not even fill one basket. This is the kind of God we serve, and it is sometimes very good to sit down, take these miracles apart, step by step, meditate on them and just wonder about God’s power and might. This excess part of the miracle, to me shows the limitless, endless provision in and with God especially when we have complete trust in Him. He is more than willing to turn things around for our good and more than willing to provide everything for us exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all we can even imagine or ask. Jesus teaches us today to give Him all we have, to give thanks, to have faith, to act on our faith, to be compassionate and to trust in the limitless, excess provision of God and the Holy spirit is available to help us every step of the way. As we do these in expectation, it is key to remember that God loves us, is willing and available to help us and always always has our best interest at heart and would never leave us hanging especially when we walk according to His will and purpose.