I was listening to a podcast sermon on the Strength for the Journey website this morning about Ruth and how God often chooses the seemingly insignificant people to do the greatest things for His kingdom. Now there's definitely another post coming about that....
But the story that I started thinking about was the boy with the 5 loaves and 2 fish who gave up his food so that the masses could eat.
As I looked for the passages, I realized that the little boy is so "insignificant" that he is only mentioned in John. The other Gospels tell the story, but leave out the part about the little boy.
John 6:5-13
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
That little boy had gotten up that morning expecting an average day. His mom packs him a few pieces of bread and he heads off to his prime fishing hole to get the rest of his meal. In his childlike curiosity, he decides to follow a large crowd of people listening to a man speak.
Dinnertime comes, and thanks to his precious momma, he is prepared....unlike the thousands of adults there, I might add. And there, in the midst of thousands, Jesus chooses him to fulfill one of the greatest miracle stories in the Bible.
One of the smallest and most insignificant,
with very little to give,
who was just expecting an ordinary day,
who was just expecting to blend in with the rest of the crowd.
Did you notice the part where Andrew even insults how small the little boy's offering is and how it would never make a difference to such a crowd?
What is it about us that we always feel too insignificant to make a difference? We feel that our gifts are not developed enough, our offering not big enough, our influence not strong enough to make any sort of difference to anybody.
Yet this small boy proves something. It's not about us. The smaller and more insignificant we are, the greater the miracle that God must perform. How often does Paul write, "It is in my weakness that God is glorified."
Look for opportunities to allow God to use even your smallest offering.
Never expect just another ordinary day.
Never expect to just blend in with the crowd.
God is choosing you to be extraordinary through his miraculous power.
