Five Loaves and Two Fish

Have you ever had one of those days that you would have been better off to have just stayed in bed? If we will admit it, most of us have those days more frequently than we would like. It’s hard enough for some of us to just swing our legs over the side of the bed in the mornings and get our eyes open enough to shake off that sluggish feeling. It’s on these days that I love to envision a waiter, clad in a white meticulous uniform bringing me breakfast in bed with a smile and a huge pot of steaming hot coffee to help me get the creative juices flowing again in my brain. Hey, I can dream, can’t I? I’ve never been one of those people who jump right up and run out the door. No, for me, it’s the other way around. I like to ease into my day. I love to read my bible and pray in the mornings. Everything just seems to flow right when I put first things first and give God His rightful place in my day. As much as I would like to think that I have it all together, I have to fight it like everyone else for that special place of peace and sanity in this crazy chaotic world we are living in. Life just doesn’t always go the way we would like. There are just those days that nothing seems to go right. The baby cries. The preschoolers fight. The teenager’s music blares. The telephone rings. The dog barks and it’s raining outside. It’s enough to shake a house off of its foundation. And this is your day off. Your “To Do” list has more things to do in one day than a 40 hour work week. Since it’s your day off, you must get it all done so that you can scratch it all off of your list. There are bills to pay, school conferences to go to, the house needs cleaned, and so does the car. Then, there’s the grocery shopping, the yard work, your elderly parents, your church group, your husband, and then there’s you. By this time, all you can think of is a hot bubble bath that screams, “Calgon, take me away!!!” Your daily devotions can become a chore, just another obligation to cross off of your “To do” list, instead of a time of refreshment and restoration like God planned for you from the very beginning. As your day comes to an end, and you realize you didn’t make a dent in all that you had planned, you fall into bed, with feelings of disappointment and frustration, too tired to care. You might think that I’m reading your mind. No, quite the contrary. I’ve been there. I still have to fight it to find that quiet place; that place of serenity that says, “It’s okay. I’ll try it again tomorrow.” I can truly understand how the disciples must have felt when they had to feed the multitude on five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus taught them that it could be done. But, first things first. He took the bread and the fish and looked up to heaven and gave thanks and they all ate and had leftovers. I’ve learned to cast my cares at His feet, to take my fragments and broken pieces, and all of the unanswered questions and lift them up before Him and give thanks. He will make a way where there is no way. He will give me the strength I need with leftovers besides!!! I can never weary His love for me. He came to give life to the full, pressed down and shaken together!!!

Luke 9: 13-17
He replied, ” You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.