loaves and fish

I was reading a book recently in which the author made a good point about the story of Jesus feeding 5000 people with simply 5 loaves and 2 fish. You know, I wonder sometimes if we truly grasp HOW big and sovereign our God is. He literally speaks and things come to be, from nothing. That day when he was teaching those 5000 people, he could have done anything to feed them. Food could have fallen from the sky... it had happened before, so why not? Water could have poured from a rock. Anything.

But he CHOSE to use the simple food a young boy in the crowd had. Maybe he had caught the fish himself, or maybe his mother gave him the food as he was rushing out the door to hear this Jesus teach. 

Needless to say, Jesus used this boys food. Rather than call down food from heaven, he multiplied what this boy already had, and fed 5000 people, with leftovers. 

What's the point in all this? You know, God could do anything... breath, snap his fingers... anything, and poverty, hunger, disease, could be cured, or gone. When it comes to seeking justice, he could strike down those brothel owners, or slave holders, or perpetrators, at any moment, freeing the victims. Sometimes he does, but why not always? It's so hard for my mind to try to grasp and comprehend these kinds of things, and I don't even claim to begin to know answers. I can't even comprehend the kinds of injustices that go on around the world. But this I do know...  God is searching the earth for His children who will, speak up, stand up, show up. When "justice is driven back" and "truth is nowhere to be found" he is looking for His people who will intervene (Isaiah 59:14-16). He not only exercises "kindness, JUSTICE, and righteousness on earth," but he DELIGHTS in them (Jeremiah 9:24). 

I don't have very much to offer. Like that young boy, my fish and loaves won't feed very many. BUT, what I do have is a willing heart to submit my fish and loaves to Jesus, for HIM to use. The beauty of Him using something so meager, is that He is more glorified. It sounds so simple, so elementary. But do we really live by this?

When I think that there are 27 million people still living in slavery I could have two possible responses: 

1. How could I even make a dent in that? It's impossible. God find someone else.

2. I don't have much to offer, but what I do have, I submit to you God, to use, even if it's for one life changed. One life set free.

Moses had a similar response to number 1 at first, when God asked him to free hundreds of people from slavery. I always wondered why God didn't just ask Aaron to do the job, since he was the mouth for Moses anyway. Why? Because God chose to use someone with a weakness, so that He would be glorified. It was Moses' calling, not Aaron's. 

And you know what? Sometimes God also raises up people to do things because someone else dropped their calling and refused to do it. 

So what IS my response?

I will not drop my calling.

I will be one to intervene,

to speak for those who cannot.

I will seek... fight for... pursue... reveal... justice.

I will demonstrate, by the grace of God, love, compassion, mercy and humility.

My response is number 2: every part of who I was created to be, is God's, for him to use, for His glory. 

How about you? 

michelle