Stop Calculating, Start Trusting

Mark 6:37-38

But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five and two fish.”

Dear Friend,

I can’t help but smile every time I read this passage. The disciples had just come back from preaching, healing, and performing miracles in Jesus’ name. Yet when faced with a hungry crowd of thousands, their first reaction was purely practical: “Lord, that would take eight months’ salary!”

How often we do the same.

When challenges come, our minds immediately run to the calculator. How much money will this cost? How much time will this take? How on earth can I fix this with what I have? We measure the need against our own resources and usually come up short.

But Jesus is gently teaching His disciples (and us) a different way of thinking. Instead of focusing on what they don’t have, He directs them to what they do: “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” Five loaves and two fish may have seemed laughable, but in His hands it became a feast that satisfied thousands, with baskets of leftovers spilling over.

The disciples’ response in this story reminds me of their reaction in the storm (Mark 4). With waves crashing and wind howling, they panicked: “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Once again, they looked only at the natural  (the problem, the danger, the impossibility) and forgot WHO was right there with them.

Here’s the pattern I see:

1. A problem arises.

2. We rush to calculate what it will take.

3. Jesus invites us to trust Him with what little we have.

4. His provision exceeds anything we could imagine.

This is an invitation for us too. When life throws us problems bigger than our ability, we don’t need to stay stuck in human calculations. Instead, we can pause and remember: There is always a supernatural answer in Jesus.

Maybe today you feel like you only have “five loaves and two fish” to offer. You have too little time, too little energy, too little money, too little strength. That’s okay. Place it in His hands. He delights in multiplying the little you have into more than enough.

Let’s train our hearts so that our first thought in crisis isn’t, “I can’t,” but, “He can.”

With love and faith,

Jennifer ✝️

photo credit: Getty Images. Licensed under the Unsplash+ License