ArticleBlog | Loaves and fishes: how God turns puny offerings into plenty
Loaves and fishes: how God turns puny offerings into plenty
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 13.09.24
The crowds had followed Jesus far into the countryside, hungry for his words. Now they needed food. Rather than send them away, Jesus challenged his disciples to feed the gathered masses. ‘All we can find is this one boy’s barley loaves and small fish,’ they wailed! ‘ Even if we could find more for sale it would cost half a year’s salary for one bite per person.’ Jesus calmly asked them to start dividing up and handing out the impossibly small picnic. In the end, everyone ate until they were stuffed, and the leftovers alone filled twelve baskets.1
Have you ever stood in the pulpit looking out over a spiritual starving congregation and felt utterly inadequate? If so, you are not alone. This is how I feel every time I speak! The voices in my head are extremely rude and undermining, and they say things like, ‘You have nothing useful to say. Why did you agree to do it?’ My hunch is many preachers come to the task with trepidation, even if they don’t struggle with my tendency to self sabotage. We often haven’t had the hours we would have wanted to spend on preparation; our personal lives are full of challenge, and we can feel weak and wobbly; we are addressing people with overwhelming needs. Perhaps we can take heart from the number of biblical figures who felt the same way: Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah among them. It is in fact a common experience among those called by God to speak on his behalf.
