I’m one week away from moving out of beautiful California–the only state I’ve ever lived in and where my family resides–to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I know fewer than ten people and it rains more days than the sun shines. I’ll soon start work at an amazing Catholic nonprofit organization that sends out missionaries to minister to and mentor teens living in inner cities across the county.
I feel like I have given Jesus my version of five barley loaves and two fishes, namely: family, friends, and familiarity. And when I do a self-check of my emotions, I find myself wondering what the miracle of abundance will be.
To be clear, the miracle is not because of me or anything that I will be doing, nor will it be because of what I have offered to the Lord. The miracle will come because God is a God of abundance and He provides for those in need. He takes our scant offerings and makes them plentiful.
I can tell you about the dozens of worries that I have, and I have shared those thoughts and concerns with Jesus too. But the nervousness that sometimes arises is often dissipated by the knowledge that Jesus can take, bless, and share any offering that is given to Him, and from that can come the exclamation of belief from those who encounter the gift.
You might think that you, yourself, or your contribution are insignificant. You may even be tempted to withhold it for that reason or another. But if the boy in the Gospel held back his sustenance, that which was deemed an insufficient amount, how would the masses have been fed? Jesus knew what He was going to do with five barley loaves and two fishes, and He knows what He’s going to do with your gift.
What will you offer to Jesus today?
God is a God of abundance and He provides for those in need. // @chikasworldClick to tweet