The Feeding Of Five Thousand

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

In all seriousness I have to say, I love going to church.

Strange, considering 2 1/2 years ago when I was living in Virginia I HATED going to church. The people were judgmental and unwelcoming and I dreaded going. Fast-forward to now, back in NH and Grace Capital Church is seriously one of my favorite places to be- I love Sundays.

Each week I cry and each week I laugh. I love it because it moves me to my core. It’s not like some wicked old priest just straight reading passages from the Bible and not understanding what’s really going on. No, here, each week the Bible is related to real life. The pastors speak like real people, act like real people and have challenges and triumphs like real people.

But anyways! So today at GCC we had a math lesson…specifically Mark 6:30-44 in your Bibles- otherwise known as “Jesus feeds 5,000″. (Below is the story if you are unfamiliar with it). Basically, Jesus had been preaching to 5,000 men (not including children and women!) It had been a long day and the disciples wanted to dismiss the crowd so they could go eat. Jesus said no, we will feed them ourselves. The disciples gathered together 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. The bottom line is that it fed all 5,000+ people with leftovers to spare.

How often do we think like the disciples?5+2=7. End of story. But it’s not, right? That’s what walking out faith really is. It is saying, “ok Lord, I have the pieces of the equation… help me put it together.” It’s bringing the parts to Him and letting him do the math. Only HE could come up with an equation like 5+2= 5,000 with a remainder of 12.

This is something I am working on. I am a “plan” type of girl. I like questions, but I like answers even better…and I don’t do well when I have a problem that I can’t answer or that I can’t figure out right away. But you know what? Every time I just lay it down and say, “Lord, I dunno man, you’ve got this.” It’s totally worked out.

That’s kind of how I’m trying to approach my business, my marriage…my life. I’m still new to Empower Network, but I know if I work my ass off and keep putting one foot in front of the other, I can bring the pieces to God and He will do the rest. Same with my marriage…it is far from perfect I never know what the next day is going to bring..but God’s been with me this far, and he’s brought me through this far and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of this 2 year trial.

I am praying some bold freakin prayers and I know God honors that.

So what about you? Are you holding your breath and taking a step? Or are you waiting for the “right time” or for “enough money”? Excuses are well planned lies. Remember that.

Take a leap of faith with me. No excuses, no regrets. Let’s move on a prayer and work!

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵ By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages^[a]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

³⁸ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

³⁹ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.