There is an African saying--"If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito."

If I am not mistaken, the Feeding of the 5000 is the only event (outside Jesus' death and resurrection) recorded in all four Gospels. Perhaps one reason is that it shows us how God uses underwhelming resources to address overwhelming challenges. Here is what I mean...

You know the story well... remote place... large crowd... late in the day... grumbling begins...

Have you ever noticed how Jesus and the disciples view the situation very differently? The disciples see only a very large problem. Jesus, however, looked at the exact same situation and saw an opportunity.

Bridge to our world: When we see poverty and sickness, hunger and famine, cruelty and abuse, do we see them as problems? Or are we, like Jesus, filled with compassion and a desire to seize an opportunity to make a difference?

Back to the disciples: They thought they were facing an overwhelming predicament... 5000 men plus women plus children... no chance... Jesus couldn't expect them to the impossible, could He? Jesus, however, does not fall into the same trap that snared the disciples. Jesus was not overwhelmed by the size of the problem. He didn't ask about magnitude or strategy or feasibility. Jesus not how much it would take to solve the problem, but only how much THEY had to offer.

After surveying the crowd, the disciples had found just one boy who was willing to give what he had. Perhaps there were others in the crowd who had some food, but instead they kept it to themselves. Perhaps there were some who rationalized that someone else would respond. Perhaps there were some who didn't want their food noticed lest others try and take it from them.

Regardles, one responded... just one... a boy... with five small loaves and two small fish. So Jesus received the generous offering--meager, but generous--and He showed the disciples what God can do with even the smallest gift offered in faith.

This miracle shows God's power to overcome huge obstacles, but there is also another miracle involved. When the disciples were confronted with an overwhelming problem, Jesus did not ask them to do the impossible. Jesus only asked them to bring to Him what they had. Jesus multiplied the smal offering and used it to do the impossible.

The same is true for you and me! Whenever you are overwhelmed by the immensity of human suffering and need in our world... and it is impossible to spend a day (let alone two weeks) in India and not be overwhelmed by that suffering... God never asks us to give what we do not have! But He also cannot use what we will not give.

Think about that little boy who gave his lunch to Jesus. Think of the joy he must have felt seing his gift multiplied by God to feed thousands of hungry people! This little boy's "piece of the puzzle" allowed God's miracle to come about.

When we, as Christ-followers, are willing to lay our pieces on the table, we, too, can take part in God's miraculous multiplication proces. But if we are unwilling, God will probably find another way to solve the problem, but we will most assuredly miss out on the opportunity to be used by God in a powerful and amazing way.

Rest assured, your resources will always be underwhelming... but God's power can overwhelm any challenge!